Uzumaki Mikomi
by Anerwyn
Summary: The story of Uzumaki Mikomi. The container of the kyuubi. Read about her life and how she fights against adversity to change the views of an entire village.
1. Chapter 1

Uzamaki Mikomi

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, all these characters, except for a minor one are the property of the real Naruto creator (whom I forget at the moment since I've been up 30 hours).

A/N: yes this is a FemNaru fic, but I hope the character development was good as I only focused on a few characters in this one. I know some of you are very against FemNaru, so if you don't like it, please don't read it unless you think the content is good enough to make you change your mind (for at least this one). I have altered the name of the main Naruto to Mikomi, which is one of the ways to say "Hope". As I feel this name is very appropriate to the character in general. I am trying to keep it to a semi in character thing, so please review and let me know what you think. Also, I am having no end of trouble trying to come up with a good original outfit for Mikomi, any suggestions would be nice. Consider that she is basically a "younger" version of Naruto's sexy no jitsu, which means proper proportions for an 11 year old girl. Please no flames, I do not flame you therefore I expect the same courtesy. Now without further ado, read and enjoy!

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Chapter 1: A Reason to Be Happy.

The door to the classroom slid open with a loud thunk, Iruka looked up to see who was late today only to see Mikomi standing there, battered and bruised. He heard gasps come from Hyuuga Hinata's and Haruno Sakura's seats as their chairs seemed to squeak across the floor. Mikomi looked around seeming slightly confused before she finally plastered on the fake grin, Iruka could see through from a mile away, and said, "Sorry I'm late Iruka sensei, I tripped on my way here." Iruka didn't believe it for a second; neither did the other two girls sitting in the classroom as they began to approach. "Sit down you two," said Iruka pointedly looking at the other girls, "ok class study chapter 10 in your textbooks while I talk with Mikomi." The students grudgingly obliged and Iruka sighed in relief as the stares left Mikomi's form and returned to the books, though the Hyuuga and the Haruno were glancing at here occasionally. He nodded his head towards the empty room next door as he looked at Mikomi pointedly.

He waited in the doorway for a few minutes as Mikomi limped down the stairs, all the while trying to hide the fact that she was seriously hurt. She finally made it in to the room as Iruka quickly closed the door before anymore stares could be shot her way and sighed. He quickly assessed her injuries noting several things. The poor girl was definitely batters, her pink, frilly skirt in total disarray and covered in thorns, her white, long-sleeved blouse was also similarly battered and for some reason she held her battered and torn books close to her chest tightly. Her hair was in total disarray with leaves and twigs sticking out in every direction. He frowned darkly as he slowly walked around the poor girl, noting the large dirt marks left by fist sized rocks and the nasty looking welt on the back of her left leg. The knee high white socks dirty had fallen to around her ankles in large pools of green and brown stains. As he came around to her front again she was staring at the ground shaking slightly, he could already tell her eyes were watering. She clutched the books even tighter to her chest and said in a small voice, "I'm sorry I'm late Iruka-Sensei, it won't happen again I promise." Iruka frowned as he noticed a tear in her blouse at roughly her collar bone, noting it went straight down to where her books were.

Iruka's face turned a dark red as his anger began to grow, the anger crashed around him dangerously. The poor girl shrunk in on herself clutching the books tighter, "I'm sorry Iruka-sensei, I'm really sorry!" she cried as she stepped back, almost falling over. Iruka's anger fled in an instant as he reached out and caught her gently, "it's not your fault Mikomi," he said, "I just can't believe someone would go that far, it makes me really angry." The blonde looked up at him with cerulean eyes and those small whisker marks across her cheeks. He knew she was about ready to breakdown; he was one of two people who ever saw the poor girl fall apart. He sighed, "How can anyone do that to an 11 year old," he said as he reached out to hold the poor, frightened girl. "Do what?" she asked him still shaking but wanting to know what he meant. Iruka quickly and forcefully pushed toe disturbing thought out of his mind, "nothing Mikomi," he said, "don't worry about it." She nodded as her eyes brimmed with tears and overflowed, she collapsed in to Iruka's arms like a deflated balloon, "why do they hate me so much?" she bawled, "I haven't done anything to them." Iruka growled lightly as he reassured the Mikomi with soothing sounds and pat's on the back, "I don't know," was all he could say. His features darkened for a moment at the familiar phrase, repeated to Mikomi over and over again. He really hated lying to her but this was law and had to be obeyed. He reassured her for the next few minutes as the sobs finally ebbed slightly, the poor girl was exhausted.

Iruka sighed as the girl finally began to quiet down and shake less. He took off his Chunin vest and wrapped it around Mikomi gently after ho noted the flap of fabric that was hanging from her. He continued to let the girl bury her face in his shoulder and hug him tightly for a long while, when he heard something. "Oh!" A voice echoed through out the room, "I'm sorry Iruka-sensei!" Iruka looked up to note a dark haired boy standing in the doorway, his very large and very round eyes wide and alert. Of course that didn't detract from the boy's most notable feature, a pair of very dark and thick fuzzy eyebrows. "Lee," Iruka exclaimed as the blond in his arms stood straight and plastered on a fake smile while closing the vest in one smooth motion, "what are you doing here lee? Aren't you supposed to be in class?" "Ermm" Lee replied uneasily, "yeah, but I had to go to the bathroom and opened the wrong door again." Iruka sighed, "next door over, Lee. How many times do I have to say that to you?" Iruka chuckled lightly at Lee's obvious discomfort, as lee put a hand behind his head and gave a stupid smile, "sorry," was all Lee said before his eyes snapped open and he locked them on Mikomi. "WOW!" Lee Exclaimed as he looked at her, "she's so young to be a chunin!" Fire lit in the young man's eyes and he held up his hand in a fist, for some reason Iruka could have swore he saw flames burning behind the youth for a moment but quickly shook that off to imagination. "Oh," Mikomi finally spoke up, "no I'm not a chunin yet, not even a genin, but my blouse was torn and Iruka-sensei loaned me his vest, so no body would see…" She trailed off as her cheeks turned red and she suddenly became quite embarrassed.

Iruka chuckled lightly, "yeah," he managed before he noted Lee's totally blank expression. "See what?" asked Lee as Iruka sweat dropped. "Umm ermm…," Finally the blonde just gave up and turned away from Lee slightly so he wouldn't see her very red face. Still Lee's expression held no hints of recognition or understanding. Iruka, once again, sweat dropped and spit out, "You'll learn when you get _the talk_." Lee looked at him blankly, "what _talk_?" he asked. "Umm…," your parents or your jounin instructor will give it to you when they feel you are ready," Iruka replied plastering his own stupid grin on his face. "YOSH!" Lee Exclaimed as his eyes once again burned with fire and his background seemed to flash flames, "I can't wait!" Iruka stared blankly at Lee for a few moments before he noticed that Mikomi was slightly turned back around to look at Lee and all his "fires of Youth". She seemed a mystified and confused about Lee but Iruka could also see something of awe in her eyes before she spoke again, "Ano, Lee-kun?" she asked softly, "why are you…." Mikomi's world spun around her as her equilibrium collapsed. Iruka wasn't fast enough to catch the now unconscious girl as she fell to the floor, but Lee was there in an instant arms wrapped around her back and shoulders lowering her to the floor. He soon was in a crouching position holding the still form of Mikomi with a completely concerned look. "Iruka-Sensei," Lee yelled as he held the motionless Mikomi, "is she ok?" Iruka frowned knowing his students probably heard that and sighed, "yes, she just exhausted," Iruka said, "and hurt," he added bitterly in his mind. It was at this time that Lee noticed the nasty welt on her leg, "that looks bad Iruka-sensei," Lee said indicating it with a nod. "Yes," replied Iruka, "yes it is." Lee looked worried but Iruka knew what needed to be done, "Lee," he said looking at Lee, "go get the nurse." "Hai," Lee replied as he handed Mikomi to Iruka, "I'll be right back." "Wait, Lee," Iruka said stopping Lee in the doorjamb, "send Misha-san, and then go back to class. I'll let Mizuki know what is taking you so long. Lee nodded once and ran out the door, "boy that kid is fast," thought Iruka as he pulled the too large chunin vest up a bit to allow Mikomi's head a pillow. He quietly got up and went to the classroom door and opened it sticking his head in with as nonchalant a face as he could. "Class dismissed," he announced to the class as cheers went up, "but I want you to do a report on chapter 10, 300 words or more." That last statement earned a disheartened, "awe," from everyone as they left, Sakura can you come here please." Sakura looked up and nodded quickly as she stuffed her things in her bag.

A few minutes later Sakura walked in to the room and gasped at seeing Mikomi, "what's wrong?" she asked louder than she wanted to, "she's ok right?" "Yes she's fine," said Iruka a little irritated, "she's just exhausted." Sakura nodded a little walking over the Mikomi lying on the floor. "Her blouse got torn earlier," Iruka stated, "you're the best at needlepoint in the whole class, can you fix it?" Sakura nodded touching her friend's forehead gently, "yeah, I can fix it easy, I even have what I need in my bag," she stated relieved at finding Mikomi alright. Sakura quickly took out her sewing kit and glared at Iruka, who was looking out the door. "Ok," Iruka said not noticing the glare, "I'll be going now. Nurse Misha-san should be here soon." Iruka finally looked at Sakura, "please don't tell anyone," Iruka sighed, "she wouldn't hear he end of it." Sakura nodded gently as she took off the chunin vest, removed the blouse, and deftly slid the vest back on. Sakura quickly went to work on the poor blouse, which she recognized as one she had loaned Mikomi not a week ago, and sighed.

After several minutes of sewing a kindly older woman walked in to the room, "Sakura?" she questioned in her smiling voice, "what are you doing here?" Sakura smiled and waved to the woman, "oh I'm just fixing Mikomi's blouse, it got ripped," she replied as the nurse walked up to the motionless Mikomi. Misha nodded after assessing Mikomi's wounds and began making a few seals which Sakura recognized as medical in nature. The woman's hands began to take on a light green color and she began healing Mikomi's wounds right in front of Sakura. The whole display just impressed and intrigued Sakura to no end, but her hands were full with the badly torn blouse.

Iruka stormed through the Hokage's office doors quickly throwing himself on the chair in front of the large oak desk, "can I help you Iruka?" the Hokage asked. "Yeah!" Iruka exclaimed, his temper still flaring, "You could send ANBU after those bastards that hurt Mikomi today!" The Hokage raised a brow, "Hurt?" he asked as he looked pointedly at Iruka. "Yes," Iruka hissed, "if not for that Kyuubi she would have been stoned to death from the evidence on her person!" "I see," was all the Hokage said quietly as he lit his pipe and looked to the side, leg's crossed. "There is also," Iruka continued seething, "the matter of her blouse being torn." "Blouse being torn?" asked the Hokage, "how so?" Iruka shrugged, "I couldn't see all the damage, but the entire front was dangling down enough I could at least see the tip of the fabric piece dangling around her thighs as she crouched down." Iruka fell quiet for a moment letting the Hokage take that in, "furthermore," he continued after the silence, "her skirt was torn in places and dirty…" Iruka shuddered at his own thoughts. "How could anyone do that to an 11 year old girl who hasn't done them any wrong?" Iruka asked quietly. The Hokage frowned for a few moments taking a puff of his pipe, "I think you are probably coming to the wrong conclusion," He finally said. "What!" exclaimed Iruka, nearly flying out of his seat, "the evidence is there Hokage-sama!" The Hokage merely sighed and leaned back a little bit, "no it's not, the blouse could have been torn by anything from branches, and remember you mentioned twigs and leaves in her hair, to fence posts." Iruka frowned at that but did feel a little relieved at that. "All in all," the Hokage continued, "I will have the responsible parties punished as I'm sure the usual taunts were used towards her." Iruka nodded a little bit as his hands fell down to his thighs and he leaned forward, "you know, they're getting worse Hokage-sama," he said, "they wouldn't have actually hurt her a year ago." The Hokage merely nodded rubbing the bridge of his nose with is thumb and forefinger, suddenly looking very old indeed. After a short silence the Hokage finally looked at Iruka, "so, has she made any friends?" he asked coolly. Iruka nodded slight looking back at the Hokage, slightly startled by how old he looked, "yeah," Iruka said, "She's made friends with the Haruno girl and the Hyuuga heiress, also, it seems: Kiba, Choiji, and Shikamaru, have also accepted her as something of a friend." The Hokage nodded, "good," he said with a sigh of relief, "I'm glad." Iruka chuckled slightly, "it's actually kind of funny," he said, "but all three of those boys have protected her on one occasion or another." The Hokage smiled at hearing that and nodded allowing the conversation to die. The silence hung about for a long while as both men thought of Mikomi, and her unwilling passenger.

Mikomi's eyes slowly opened as she looked around the room groggily, a soft pillow-like thing was under her head, and she saw a couple of blurry faces. She tried to sit only to have a gentle hand push her back down and a voice she recognize tell her to lie down and relax for a bit. Slowly the world began to focus again as her eyes picked out pink hair and green eyes, "Sakura?" she asked as she reached out. "Yeah," Sakura said as she caught up her friends hand and laid it on her belly, "you had me scared for a bit Mikomi." "I'm sorry," Mikomi said weakly and smiled. Sakura was a bit shocked, this was the most vulnerable her friend had ever been. Sakura thought back and couldn't find a time where Mikomi was ever this bad. She sighed and finished her needlepoint. "Well it's good to see you finally awake there Mikomi-chan," came a very familiar laughing voice. Mikomi turned her head and focused on the old woman sitting next to her, "Misha-san?" Mikomi asked, "Why are you here?" "You had fainted," Misha explained, "Lee-kun came and got me for Iruka." "Lee-kun?" Mikomi asked as her face reddened a little bit. Misha nodded with that ever present gentle and warm smile and patted Mikomi's head. "Done," Sakura proclaimed as she showed them her handiwork, "I hope it's ok." They both nodded a bit with a chuckle noting the blouse didn't even look like it had ever been torn in the first place. Sakura grinned brightly and handed it to Mikomi, "here, you can put it back on now," Sakura said. The nurse looked over Mikomi a little bit and nodded, "you should be able to stand and move around now," she smiled. Nodding Mikomi stood up with the help of Misha and Sakura, she noted that the jacket she had on was way too big and it had a familiar scent to it, "Iruka?" she asked touching the vest. Both women with her nodded and chuckled, "yes, he gave that to you so you had something covering you up," Sakura stated, "he's a great teacher and a very nice man." Mikomi nodded that same foxy grin slyly creeping in to her features, "yeah," she said as she quickly took off the vest and slid on the blouse. "I'll take that," Misha stated as she gently took Iruka's vest, "I'll make sure he gets it." At that the old woman smiled warmly to them and took her leave. "I'm sorry for ruining your blouse, Sakura," Mikomi said as she faced Sakura, eyes downcast. "My blouse?" Sakura asked, "I gave that blouse to you a week ago, it's yours." Mikomi positively beamed at that and hugged Sakura quickly, "thanks Sakura," she said, "You're a good friend." Sakura only giggled and returned the hug, quickly turning it in to dragging Mikomi out of the classroom.

Stepping in to the bright sunlight Mikomi noticed it was only about noon, "what?" she asked, "Where's the class?" Turning to Sakura who only shot her a mischievous grin and said, "Iruka let us out early today." After a second Mikomi smirked ever so foxily, "ne, want to go prank Ino?" she asked as Sakura grinned evilly. Suddenly a voice from behind her made her heart flutter a bit and her body freeze, "Oi, hey!" Lee yelled waving, "sakura-chan, Mikomi-chan!" Lee caught up to them quickly without seeming out of breath, "I'm glad your doing better Mikomi-chan," he said flashing her, a toothy yet, very bright smile. "Th-thanks," Mikomi stuttered turning slowly to face the boy, "I'm glad you went and got the nurse for me." She stood there dumbly staring at the boy who had shown so much concern for her, an upperclassman at that. A part of her mind asked her why she was suddenly stuttering, she never stuttered around boys before and she wasn't about to start now. Forcing her mouth to relax and she smiled brightly back. Sakura stood there noting the slightly pink tint to Mikomi's cheek and smirked slightly, "this is interesting, "she thought just watching the two interact. All Lee did was smile and say, "you're welcome," before holding out his hands. "You still seem a little tired Mikomi-chan, so may I carry your books home for you." This only brought a deeper flush to the poor girl's cheeks as Sakura smiled inwardly, "her first crush," she thought as she stood tall. "Oh," Sakura said, "I just forgot, I have to get right home, I promised mom to help her in the shop today after school." Mikomi looked at her and nodded blankly as Lee simply said, "Ok Sakura-chan, safe trip." Sakura giggled inwardly as she headed on her way, leaving the poor Mikomi to flutter in the wind. Lee turned back to Mikomi with a friendly smile, "well?" he asked indicating his hand with a nod of his head. "O-oh yeah, sure!" Mikomi got out as she mentally berated herself for being weak. Lee nodded with a smile and quickly too her books from her outstretched hands and started to walk off.

They passed half the trip to Mikomi's apartment in silence before Lee finally broke it, "what happened to you?" he asked looking over at her. "Oh, nothing I just tripped on my way to school," she said putting on her fake smile, "that's it." Lee stared at her for a moment then said, "I don't want to pry but it seemed more than that, those injuries weren't just falling down." She blinked and glanced at the semi observant boy, but he didn't seem to push the question further. A few seconds passed before he spoke again, "How come I've never really seen you before?" he asked. "Well, I'm usually elsewhere," she replied simply with a shrug, "I got better things to do then learn history and junk." Lee nodded then shrugged, "Hokage-sama says that education is an important thing for a shinobi," he stated. She shrugged, "feh, there's a lot of life to experience out there you know." She nodded towards a group of birds flying in the sky to prove her point. Lee nodded with a smile, "I enjoy those things too, but I still find time to learn," he said, "A shinobi needs to be well rounded and know lots of things." She shrugged and decided to change the subject, "so are you taking the genin exams in six months?" She asked. Lee nodded with a "HIA!" and grinned at her, once again blinding her with his very shiny teeth. She couldn't help but grin at his bright cheery smile and happy demeanor, it was invigorating. They turned a corner and there was her apartment building, "oh, we're here," she said with a smile of her own, "want to come in for some tea?" she asked almost inaudibly but it seemed Lee had good hearing, "sorry, I can't," he replied, "I have to train." She nodded dumbly as he took her books to her apartment and left with a quick, "goodbye!" and a cheery wave. She couldn't help but giggle at his cheerfulness, it was infectious.

The next day Sakura came over to rouse Mikomi from her sleep early. Mikomi answered the door groggily in her PJs and looked at Sakura oddly as Sakura just walked in. "Ne, I'm going shopping," Sakura announced, "want to come?" Mikomi could only nod and yawn as she quickly trudged in to her room to put on her only other outfit, a pair of bright orange pants and a black T-shirt. Both pieces fit poorly as they were definitely too small in Sakura's opinion as they walked to a nearby clothing store.

After several hours of shopping Sakura finally found the outfit she thought Mikomi should try on, "this should look good," Sakura smiled as she handed the new clothes to Mikomi, who simply nodded and obediently went to the changing room. After a few minutes Mikomi stepped out and proudly displayed the outfit for Sakura. The Burnt orange shorts were an interesting addition with the cerulean T-shirt, but Sakura couldn't say it was bad, maybe not best but not worst. Mikomi grinned, "I like this shirt, it brings out my eyes, and I couldn't give up the orange." Sakura chuckled, "well maybe not the best fashion, but she likes it for now," she thought. Mikomi grinned and brought her hands from inside her pockets to reveal the dark blue leather gloves, with the metal plates on the back of the hand. She smirked as she made a fist, allowing the first knuckled long fingers to show off the gleam of metal. "Metal plates," Sakura thought, "on both the back for blocking, and on the first finger length to add to the punch." Sakura smirked feeling sorry for the next boy that made Mikomi mad, he'd be in for one heck of a punch.

After a few minutes of admiring herself in the mirror Mikomi noted the price and her face fell, "aww, I can't afford these," she sighed preparing to walk back in to the dressing room. Sakura grinned and stopped her gently, "don't worry about it," she said, "Hinata and I pooled our money so we can afford these." "You did?" asked Mikomi, "you guys are the best!" she squealed as she jumped up pumping the air with her new gloves on. Sakura could only laugh as Mikomi went back in to the dressing room to change back and gather the stuff. Secretly Sakura thought the gloves were a good idea and decided to buy some later.

The girls paid for their purchases and headed out the door talking happily when they bumped in to Hinata. "Oh hey Hinata!" squealed Mikomi, "thanks for helping Sakura and me with the money to get these clothes." Mikomi grinned and gave Hinata a big hug in thanks. Hinata could only giggle as she returned the hug. After a few minutes of excited banter and recent gossip, Lee arrived on the scene. "Oh hey ladies," Lee said with a smooth bow to them all, "how are you doing today?" Hinata and Sakura just smiled and said they were doing fine, but Mikomi whipped her head around quickly pasting, what she hoped was a generic smile on her face, "doing good, Lee-kun," she said as strands of hair whipped her in the face. She silently cursed herself about forgetting to put the hair up. Lee only smiled before he noticed the stack of packages Sakura and Mikomi were carrying, "Oi, I can carry those for you ladies," Lee smiled brightly as the girls thanked him, placing their purchases in his arms. They walked away chatting amicably, though Mikomi blushed every time she saw Lee turn his head to her and grin happily.

Mikomi noticed Lee there every day offering to help carry her books for her. She was almost crushed when he admitted he was only doing it to build his stamina and strength. She forgot about that on the walks home though. She got to hear Lee's dreams and his goal in life. She smiled every time she heard them, they were like a soothing balm on her own soul. She began taking an interest in his training and watched him train. She'd sit under a tree and cheer Lee on as he beat up a poor log to death, sometimes he'd spar with her. Every time he asked her to spar she'd feel elated then a sudden sense of dread remembering the last time they sparred. She slowly got better with her Tiajitsu though. She finally made Lee work hard at his victory the day before the genin exams, her smile was blatantly cheerful though her body hurt every time she moved. She grinned at all the girls who'd stare as Lee carried her home that day, he made her promise to come see him if he graduated which she made him promise to do the same for her. She lied on her couch with an air of happiness and confidence. She wondered how 6 months had passed by so quickly for a few lazy moments before she drifted off to sleep.

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A/N: Well I hope you liked this fic of mine, I know the end seems rushed but I'm tired as I haven't been to bed since roughly 4PM yesterday(for those outside my time zone that would be roughly 29 hours or so). I hope you enjoy this fanfic of mine and send me reviews. I would prefer no flames for this one, I do not flame you, and therefore I expect the same respect, please.


	2. Chapter 2

Uzamaki Mikomi

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters of that show, no matter how much I wish I did.

A/N: This fic covers a year's worth of time, I picked out a few spots to highlight because I felt they would add development to both the characters and feel of the fic. I also forgot to eat 3 times as I was finishing this up, so that should tell you I had fun writing it and hope you have fun reading it. Again, I realize not many of you are crazy about turning Naruto in to a girl but please no flames about it. SO, with that said, without further ado chapter 2 of the Uzamaki Mikomi Chronicles!

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Chapter 2: Brightening Dawn

A soft buzzer finally pierced the darkness of sleep. Finally an eye slid lazily open, she glanced at her clock and nearly flew out of her bed. "Oh crap!" she exclaimed as she flew to her closet. Clothes began to fly all over the room as she searched her closet furiously, "man, gunna have to do laundry soon," she hissed as she finally found a clean shirt and shorts. She sighed noting the clean clothes and quickly slapped them on, a simple pair of kaki shorts and a very light orange T-shirt. Though she did like how the leave symbol was emblazoned on that shirt in red. Finally looking in the mirror and noting she didn't have enough time to do her hair she quickly brushed it through and tied a dark blue bandana around her head, pulling her hair through the opening in the back. "Well at least, it keeps my hair out of my face," she thought as she quickly grabbed a box out from under her bed.

She grunted slightly as she lifted the box, it was pretty heavy, and set in on her bed. Quickly opening it she grabbed the special tape she always kept now and began sticking it on. It took her a few minutes, but doing this for the last 3 months got her well practiced. First she taped up her hands, just past the wrist to the first knuckled of her fingers. Secondly, she wrapped the tape around each elbow, giving about 2 inches on either side. Thirdly, she taped up her knees, giving that a few inches of play as well. Finally, she taped up her feet, from just above the ankle to her toes. She sighed as she put up the tape, and began to empty the box. She pulled out her black Leather gloves first. she made sure the metal plates on the fingers and the back of the hand were still secured tightly before putting them on. She tightened the gloves quickly before removing the elbow pads. The elbow pads also had metal on them giving her more damage potential with an elbow. Silently she pulled out some knee pads, strapping those on around her knees which also had metal plates on them. Finally she slid her feet in to her brand new sandals also, with metal plating right on the straps that held them on and around the edge of the soles.

She looked at herself in the mirror and grinned, "Well, not the best fashion statement, but I do look good," she thought. She let her eyes travel around making sure everything was in place, and grinned when she saw her chest, "a nice A cup now," she though, "glad I got out of that damn training bra, and I still can't believe that Iruka-sensei got Kurenia-sensei to help me shop for one." She grinned, "I would have loved to see Iruka-sensei's face when he asked," she said aloud finishing her inspection. As her eyes got to her feet, she blushed slightly. Lee had got those for her as a gift. She had wondered why he asked her what her shoe size the day before he gave those to her. In fact Lee had gotten all the metal plated pieces of clothing, except her gloves.

She remembered every time Lee had gotten her one of those items, but the shoes stood out the most:

It had been about a week ago that he approached her with something behind her back. She had promised to meet him and train with him early that day. He had walked up hiding something behind his back and smiling, obviously proud of himself. "Umm," She had asked, "what's behind your back?" He had smiled that flashy grin of his that made her heart skip a beat, "close your eyes and you'll see," he had replied. She stared at him a moment before nodding and closing her eyes tightly. "Hold out your hands," he had said. She trembled in excitement and held out her hands. Suddenly she felt something heavy and rectangular placed in them. "Open your eyes now," he had said. She quickly opened her eyes seeing the box in her hands she really wondered what was in it. "Go ahead," he said, "open it." She complied sliding the lid off the box gently, inside was a pair of new sandals. She gently pulled out the sandals to see the metal plates on the strap and around the sole. "I saved up a long time," he had said, "I hope they fit right." She looked at him as he gave her a big smile and a thumb up. She nearly fainted right there as her world begin to swim slightly. She had spaced out right then, when she finally came too she noticed Lee looking at her curiously, "something wrong?" he had asked. "n-no," she had stuttered, "no-nothings wr-wrong." She gave him a smile that only spoke of being lost, "well," he had said," I hope you like them." She could only nod for a second until the words sunk in, "oh yes!" she had exclaimed, "I **love** them!" She jumped at him then, grabbing him around his neck and squeezing him tightly. Lee only blushed slightly at a girl giving him a hug and chuckled after one of the sandals hit him on the back of the head.

A second soft buzzer went off as she noticed herself staring in to the mirror dreamily she shook her head she glanced at the clock and cursed. "Damn it," she exclaimed running to the head of her bed to grab her stuff. As she ran towards her front door she took one last look in the mirror and hit her alarm clock causing it to stop and she was out the door. She frowned as she ran down her stairs, "really need a new alarm clock," she thought.

The door slid open with a soft thud as Iruka glanced up from the head of the class. The pit of his stomach dropped as he noticed it was Mikomi being late. He quickly scanned her body and found that she was, at least, uninjured this time and let out a short sigh of relief. "Mikomi!" He bellowed putting on his best angry face, "why are you late?" She began to rub the back of her head embarrassedly, "sorry I'm late," she said, "I need a new alarm clock." She giggled apprehensively at that, "hmm," Iruka thought, "That's the fifth time she's used that excuse this week. So it's probably true." Iruka sighed and listed that on his shopping list, "ok," he said, "have a seat you're just in time for the final exam." She nodded happily and took her seat next to Sakura and promptly started up a gossiping match with the pink haired girl. Iruka shook his head with a chuckle and decided it was time to start. After Iruka had announced the people who were eligible for the test and sent the rest home, he started the exam.

Mikomi sat there for a long time. She couldn't believe he had sent all of her friends home. She sighed as her hope got shattered again as he called in another student for the test and began staring off in to space. She remembered back to the day Lee had given here those elbow pads claiming that the difference in damage potential between the already be-metaled gloves and the uncovered elbow were quite different. He then told her that he thought she'd do a lot more damage of she covered her striking points with metal. She had nodded and thanked him. He then got her the knee pads a few months later, and finally the new shoes.

Iruka's voice broke her out of her reverie as she looked up, only to see him glowering at her impatiently and nodding in to the exam room. She jumped up and quickly went in to the room as everyone snickered at her. Once inside she noticed that Kurenia was the other teacher and waved at her smiling. Kurenai smiled, "ready to start," she asked as Mikomi stopped in front of them and Iruka took a seat. "Oh yeah," stated Mikomi as she grinned brightly. "Good," said Iruka as she looked at Mikomi, "the technique for this test is transformation." Mikomi's Heart sank, with all the time she had been spending with Lee and pranks and perfecting her own gengitsu technique she hadn't had time to practice transformation technique. "Something wrong?" asked Iruka as he looked at her oddly, "you're looking a bit pale there." Mikomi shook her head and forced herself to cheer up, she may not know it that well but she had to do it. "No," she said, "I'm ready when you are." Iruka nodded, "transform in to Kurenia-sensei," he stated as Mikomi studied Kurenia for a moment. "Eh easy stuff," said Mikomi, "I'll pass this for sure." Mikomi smiled with bravado and clasped her hands together collecting up chakra for the technique. "Henge," exclaimed Mikomi as white smoke covered her up completely. The smoke dissipated quickly revealing a very short and sickly looking Kurenai, complete with blonde hair. Kurenia sighed shook her brown mane of hair and looking at Iruka who seemed about shocked at what happened. "Mikomi," Iruka started as another puff of smoke covered the girl and dissipated to reveal her normal form. "Hold on hold on," Said Mikomi waving a hand around in front of her and scratching the back of her head with the other, "It was just a joke, you seemed so serious you know." Mikomi slapped on a rather stupid smile like she was joking. "Mikomi," Iruka said somewhat tiredly, "this is the final exam, and this isn't just some other assignment. I should fail you for that, but I will give you another chance. Do it right this time." Mikomi nodded and swallowed, "come on," She thought, "you're going to be Hokage, you should be able to do this no problem." She growled slightly as she began to mold chakra again, this time causing a bit of a chakra sphere around her. "Henge," she yelled as another puff of smoke consumed her body. The smoke cleared to reveal the exact same transformation as before, only this time looking a little miffed. Iruka sighed, "you're not joking," he said it like a statement and looked at the puff of smoke indicating the transformation had dispelled. "I, umm," stammered Mikomi, "I err…" "I'm sorry Mikomi," Iruka said, "I can't pass you, that transformation would get you caught easier." "b-but, b-but, b-but," stammered Mikomi again, "I…I just…I'm sorry." Mikomi smiled brightly, "there's always next year," she said way too cheerfully. Kurenia had enough experience with genjitsu to know what was false and what wasn't. To her Mikomi's smile and cheer was all false. Kurenia also knew a near breakdown when she saw one, and this was definitely a good beginning to one. "Can I go now?" Mikomi asked all too sweetly. Iruka nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose. He hated to have to fail her again. Mikomi nodded and left the room quickly, all the while keeping that fake as hell smile on her face. She gathered her things and was out the door before anyone knew what was going on. Iruka stuck his head out the classroom door and called the next name a bit too loudly for the next poor kid in line.

Mikomi walked back to the academy after she had dropped off her books at her apartment and hid herself in a quiet place for a long time. She had promised Lee she'd see him after he graduated and she never went back on a promise, besides, she also had something she wanted to tell him. She sat on her normal swing just outside the front door of the academy and waited.

It wasn't long before Lee strode out proudly and wandered over to her. "Hey," he said cheerily and waved, "I passed!" Lee began to jump around and cheer with the happiest expression on his face. Mikomi couldn't help but smile at him; he was just so adorable when he celebrated. "Ne, Ne," He finally asked, "How did you do?" Mikomi simply sighed and looked at the ground a little, "I didn't do so well," she replied, "I didn't pass." Lee looked shocked and dumbfounded, "Nani!" he finally was able to say, "how come?" Mikomi just smiled, "it's really not that important I just wasn't good enough," she stated, "again." The last word being under her breath, of course, Lee didn't notice. "I'll go beat them up," Lee said as he stood that fire in his eyes again, "to not graduate a perfectly good ninja in training!" She blinked as he began to storm towards the building before finally stopping him by catching his wrist, "no Lee," she said, "they were right, I couldn't pass the test." Lee looked at her for a long moment before calming down, "Ok," he said, "still I'm sorry to hear it." She smiled as Lee gave her his usual cheerful grin, even though it was almost blindingly bright. "This is your special day," she finally said, "You deserve to have a happy one." Lee looked at her for a moment before declaring that he would love to share the day with her. Mikomi blinked blankly trying to remember when she had mentioned spending the day with her at all, as he grabbed her hand and practically dragged her down the road to his favorite restaurant.

Lee was excitably chatting about the menu and the great dumplings at this restaurant as they stood in line. For the most part Mikomi heard some of what Lee was saying, since she was still in shock that he would take _her_ to a restaurant like _this_. The richest restaurant in town and it lived up to its title. She sighed looking ahead of them remembering that this was also the most expensive restaurant in town and silently hoped Lee had enough money.

They finally made it to the front of the line and faced a rather stodgy looking man with more grease on his head than was probably in the food. "May I help you," the man said with words that slid out of his mouth like they were also greased. "Yes," Lee exclaimed, "I have a reservation." Greasy Nodded, "name?" he asked simply. "Rock Lee," Lee said with his usual flare which made Mikomi giggle every time. Greasy again nodded as he looked through the list of reservations, a quick flip of the page and he seemed to find what he was looking for. He turned to them and was about to say something before his eye's fell on Mikomi half hiding behind Lee, "I'm sorry I can't seem to find your reservation here," said Greasy as he started to help the next person in line. "Nani!" exclaimed Lee as he tried to look at the book, "I had that reservation made 1 month ago." Greasy snorted slightly and looked at Lee, or more accurately Mikomi, pointedly.

Mikomi felt several glares fall on her when everyone who could hear what was going on at the front desk turned to look. She also immediately felt every single one of those pairs of eyes turn in to the cold hate filled eyes she had been seeing all her life. "I'm sorry young man," greasy continued, "but it seems whomever you asked to make reservations forgot." "Impossible," Lee stated, "my Sensei would never forget to make those, he promised me." Lee stood straight as held his free arm with the same fire in his eyes as before. Mikomi couldn't help but notice most of the people were glaring at her and she tightened her grip on Lee's left arm. Greasy sighed and looked pointedly at a couple of bouncers standing around. They stepped forward and stood there menacingly, "listen kid," said greasy, "I'm a busy man and this is a busy restaurant, please leave before I have you thrown out." Lee frowned, "I do not understand, I'm sure a reservation was made," Lee said before he noticed exactly where the bouncers' eyes were glaring. "I'm sorry young man but I have to insist you leave," replied Greasy. Lee scanned the closest room he could see and noted the cold hate filled glares directed, not at him, but at Mikomi. Lee frowned darkly and looked Greasy directly in the eye, "if she were not here," Lee said indicating Mikomi, "then would you let me eat here?" Greasy pretended to be shocked, "well I suppose I would be able to double check the reservation book for you," Greasy replied.

Mikomi's heart sank as Lee asked that question. Her eyes simply fell to the ground as she began to release Lee's arms slowly. It was almost as if everyone in the restaurant were gloating at her triumphantly. Even their looks really couldn't compare to how she felt after Lee asked that question. Her hands were almost off of Lee's arms when she felt his right hand grab hers and hold them on his arm. "This is not right," Proclaimed Lee loudly, "This is very wrong, if you do not wish to have her eat here, I will have nothing to do with your restaurant. The Only reason I intend on eating here today is because I know reservations were made." Greasy sighed and nodded towards the two kids as his bouncers advanced. Lee quickly pushed Mikomi behind him and prepared to fight.

Maito Gai walked around the corner noting a ruckus at the restaurant he was going to. He frowned quickly and began moving a bit quicker letting his eyes scan the crowd. He noted Lee, who seemed to be in the middle of it, and a blond he recognized slightly. After a few seconds of peering at her he remembered who she was, "Kyuubi..," Gai stopped himself from thinking that with a sigh, "no, not Kyuubi, Uzamaki Mikomi." He nodded and thought back for a few seconds.

Gai remember when Lee had told him about his friend, Mikomi. Gai had frowned darkly and looked Lee straight in the eyes, "you should be careful around her," he stated, "shouldn't hang around her too much." Lee had looked at him very confused and asked him what he meant by that. Gai had sighed picking his words carefully, "she...can be...very…dangerous," he finally put together, "and dangers need to be watched carefully." Lee still stared at him blankly for a long time, "but," Lee had started, "when I first met her, she seemed broken." Gai had raised an eyebrow told Lee to clarify his meaning. Lee just looked at Gai for a few minutes and stated, "She was broken." Lee has shrugged then and left for supper. It took Gai a long time to think on what someone so young had told him, but finally one day he had gone to check up on Lee and found Lee practicing with Mikomi. The kids were practicing hard and laughing, they both seemed to be having a good time. Gai began to visit their training spot everyday and noticed Lee was beginning to teach Mikomi a few of the more minor Tiajitsu techniques that he had taught Lee.

Gai had just made it to the back of the line when he noticed the bouncers step towards the two kids. He frowned seeing Lee step forward and pushing Mikomi behind him, the poor girl was shaking like a leaf. Gai was also quite pleased with the fact that Lee remembered he needed to protect her. Gai figured it was about time to make his entrance, flashily and disturbingly. At least then every one would know he was a ninja. He jumped in to the air and over the long line to land behind the two kids, placing a heavy hand on their shoulders.

Mikomi felt a presence behind her then a heavy hand fell on her shoulder. She squeaked and jumped half out of her skin spinning around in the air to face her attacker. It took her a second but she finally realized the heavy hand was just plain heavy, like it was big, not like he wanted to throw her out. She looked at the strange bob headed man in green tights for a few moments before noting that his other hand stretched straight to Lee's shoulder and Lee was just fine. She looked at his face again noting the dark glare he was shooting at the bouncers as they visibly cringed. Hey they were hired to throw out punk kids and rowdy customers, not Shinobi. Gai stepped forward a bit and quickly grabbed the reservation book while he asked Lee if there were some problems. Lee promptly notified Gai what was going on as Gai flipped through the book nodding when he came to a specific page. "Ahh," he said to a badly blubbering Greasy man, "here it is, right here." As Gai thrust the book in to Greasy's face he indicated the name, "yes, right here," Gai stated, "Rock Lee, reservation for 3." The man blubbered even more as he nodded slightly. Suddenly Gai's voice cut in quite deeply, "I would hate to see what would happen if word about how you are treating a Konoha shinobi," Gai said, "Anyway I do hope there is a table available." Gai set the book back down with a flashy smile. "Y-yes, sir," Greasy stammered reaching for some menus and personally showed them to one of the better tables in the house.

Gai looked at the pair as he sat down, they were chatting happily and Gai was pushed down memory lane again. He remembered watching those two spar and train together, always laughing and joking around. They were definitely enjoying their youth, and having fun. He followed Lee around a lot more than Mikomi, he felt slightly guilty for that. One time he had followed Mikomi as he noticed Lee was going straight home for the evening and apparently the girl had other things on her mind. As soon as she noticed Lee was out of sight she wandered further in to the wooded area of the training ground. Gai Followed wondering what she was doing. He soon found her slumped up against a tree, she seemed so totally lonely at that time. Gai just couldn't believe how often he actually did catch her being depressed or lonely, though it seemed Lee was one of the few who could actually see a part of that side of her. It had taken Gai a long while to figure out what Lee already knew by instinct, Gai gave up thinking of her as some demon fox months ago.

Gai snapped out of his reverie and looked at both of them chat with one another happily and smiled, "such good kids," he thought, "too bad most of the village can't see her as her, Like Lee can." Gai sighed and glanced at the waiter who was preparing to take their order.

A few weeks had passed and Lee had been out on missions most of the time, much to the sorrow of Mikomi. Mikomi felt so sad that Lee was gone, she didn't entirely understand why though. Sakura had been busy most of the time helping her mother with the store and Hinata had been training at her home a lot. Mikomi just felt completely lonely, she never got to see her friends much lately and she was getting bored. She wanted to talk to the Hokage some but his new secretary didn't let her see him at all. Finally one day she was sitting on her roof when an idea crept in to her mind, "I know how to see the Hokage," she thought as a slow grin played across her face and she went and got some paint.

She giggled as the two chunin ran right by her. "Can't make catching me too easy," she said as she lowered the cloth she was hiding behind. She nodded and grinned as she jumped in the opposite direction. It had been roughly an hour since they started chasing her. She smirked jumping along the roofs again before she ran right into a big man. She turned her head to look at who she ran in to and started as she noted the kitana and bear mask, clearly marking him as an ANBU. The man reached out and clasped a big hand on her shoulder, "what did you do now, Mikomi," The large man said as he peered down at her. "Oh," she said putting on her best cute face, "I just added some color to the third's face on the Hokage Monument." The ANBU sighed loudly and shook his head picking her up carefully, "alright," he said," come with me we need to speak to the Hokage about this one." As the ANBU began to run across the rooftops he couldn't help but think she wanted to get caught.

The Hokage looked away from the silver haired jounin as he felt another presence enter the room. After a quick puff of smoke he was able to see the ANBU man in the bear mask standing before him. The ANBU definitely fit with his mask, he was as big as a bear. Finally the Hokage's eyes settled on the girl cradled in the ANBU's arms, she looked like a fragile stick in the huge mans arms. "Only an hour this time?" the Hokage asked as he shifted in his chair to look at the unusual pair, "usually takes two." The Hokage chuckled slightly secretly glad it was this ANBU that caught her.

The sliver haired Jounin raised his eyebrow and turned his one uncovered eye towards them. "Hmm," said the jounin as he leveled a flat piercing stare on the girl. The Hokage noticed Mikomi curl in on herself as the Jounin eyed her, "Kakashi," he said, "try not to make her feel to uncomfortable." "Two hours eh," said Kakashi as he looked at the Hokage, "ANBU takes two hours to catch her normally?" The Hokage merely chuckled and shook his head, "no," he replied, "ANBU catches her in a few minutes, but most others take a lot longer." Kakashi nodded apparently filing that information away for later. "I think we are done here, Kakashi," stated the Hokage. Kakashi nodded respectfully and was gone in a puff of white smoke. "Now," continued the Hokage, "I saw what you did." He looked at the girl pointedly as the ANBU let her down. "Isn't it pretty," she asked flamboyantly as she stood in front of the Hokage's desk. The Hokage sighed, "You're going to have to clean it up, you know," He said as he continued to glower at her. Mikomi just nodded before putting on her best, I'm-so-cute-you-can't-say-no, face, "can you come with me?" She asked. "I'm very busy today Mikomi," replied the Hokage as he dismissed the ANBU. Mikomi pouted, "guess I'm going to have to try it," she thought as she flashed through a short series of seals. "Uzamaki Illusion: total adorability technique," she said as her face took on a completely cherubic look. The Hokage nearly choked on his pipe smoke. It took him a couple of seconds to realize it was a genjitsu and he sighed slightly, "I suppose I can spare some time then." The Hokage chuckled slightly, "that was some strong illusion, almost fooled me," he thought, "She uses a lot of chakra in that one, which makes it quite powerful." Mikomi just thanked him a lot and looked very happy.

"You wanted to get caught," the Hokage said as he peered out over Konoha standing on the monument. "What makes you think that?" Mikomi asked as she dipped the sponge back in to the pail and began scrubbing again. "Well," the Hokage said as he peered down at Mikomi, "you only vandalized the part that was easily noticed, and it only took them an hour to catch you." Mikomi sighed for a moment looking up at the Hokage, stopping in her cleaning for the time being. The Hokage chuckled, "you knew you were going to have to clean it up, so you only picked the one spot so you could clean it up quickly," he continued, "you also made sure to select the one spot that is easily seen through out the entire village, denoting that you intended to get caught." Mikomi pouted slightly, "well, if I would have noticed that ANBU I wouldn't have been caught so easily," she said. The Hokage smiled down at her, "something tells me you did all this just so you could talk to me about something," he stated, "take a break right now and come on up here." "Ok," she said as she jumped up to him, taking twice the amount of jumps than most of the other academy students. The Hokage noted that with a slight frown, but the fact that she took half the time to get to him wasn't lost on him. "It's just so lonely," she started pouting, "Every one is too busy nowadays. Sakura is helping her mom. Iruka spends all his free time with Anko-sensei and Lee-kun is gone on missions all the time." The Hokage raised an eyebrow as he saw her face become very dreamy and a small blush creep up on her cheeks at the mention of Lee. "Iruka is spending a lot of time with Anko?" asked the Hokage. Mikomi nodded as she looked up at him, "actually I wanted to talk to you about Lee-kun," she said. "Oh," the Hokage said. Mikomi nodded, "it's just that," she began beginning to stutter, "I really miss him. My face gets all hot. I can't focus whenever I think about him." The Hokage nodded as a grin crept on to his face, "Am I sick or something. I'm beginning to worry," Mikomi said as she noticed the Hokage grin, "I've never had this happen before." The Hokage Chuckled, "you should really ask one of the women," he said, "but I can safely say you're not sick at all. This is actually normal for a girl your age." "Really," Mikomi exclaimed, "so I'm ok?" The Hokage simply chuckled and nodded, "you are fine it's just a crush." "A crush," she asked with a confused look on her face, "what's that?" The Hokage looked at her laughing slightly now, "it's something that happens a lot when you get older," he said, "it just means you really like him a lot." "But it's interfering with my schoolwork, I don't want to get bad grades," she said frowning, "Iruka-sensei is getting really annoyed." "It's ok," the Hokage said as he patted her shoulder, "I'll talk with Iruka about it; you just try to stop thinking about him when you do your school work, Ok?" Mikomi nodded with a smile, "finish up your work," the Hokage said as he pointed down. "If you finish in 10 minutes I'll treat you to some Ramen," the Hokage said as he smiled at her. Mikomi exploded in to action yelling, "Alright," and finished the cleaning with zeal.

A few months later Mikomi was walking down the street in utter bliss, Iruka-sensei had congratulated her on an excellent history report. He had even given her extra credit which was always nice since her math scores were so bad, she had to make up for that somehow. She continued on her way with a bright smile plastered on her face when she heard a familiar voice coming from the training area. Mikomi stopped for a moment looking in to the wooded area and grinned as she vanished in to the undergrowth.

It took her a few minutes but she finally found the spot she heard the voices from. She peeked from behind her tree to see Lee and his team standing in the clearing, Gai was explaining something she couldn't really hear. She strained to hear what was said but still couldn't make anything out before they all separated to practice the move. Mikomi blushed as she noticed Lee's tights. They revealed so much of his muscle. The new Hairstyle also seemed very cute on him. She noticed three big logs sitting out as each member of Lee's team moved in front of their log. Suddenly they all charged at their logs planting a hand just behind them as they kicked up at the log. The logs didn't move much, except for Lee's it moved a little then settled. "Again," said Gai as he stepped close to her position.

Mikomi glanced over to see Tenten trying her hand at the move. Mikomi really looked up to Tenten, she was so accurate with her weapons. Mikomi, on the other hand, could barely hit a target right in front of her. Tenten also seemed so mature about everything too. She also noted Neji, "he'd be cute," she thought, "If he wasn't so distant." She heard a loud thump at that moment and turned to look quickly. Lee had managed to kick his log in to the air, "alright!" she exclaimed before realizing how loud she was. She knew she was in trouble as soon as she heard Neji say, "Byakugan." She knew she was even more trouble as soon as she heard Neji say, "Over there," and heard something falling through the tree leaves. She did the only thing she could do and bolted. Mikomi smirked as she noticed Tenten land right where she was a few moments ago, weapons ready. She would have laughed had she not ran in to something very hard, knocking her on her butt. She came to a sliding stop planting her hands behind her with her legs sticking out in front of her. "Ouch, ouch," she winced rolling forward to sit cross-legged rubbing her nose and bottom. "What have we here," Gai said as he stepped forward, Mikomi could also feel Neji and Tenten surround her. "Crap," Mikomi thought as she hopped to sit on her calves, "I'm in trouble…unless…" Her hands formed the seals quickly as she put on her best, I'm-too-cute-to-hit, face, "Uzamaki Illusion: total adorability" she said as she looked up at Gai. "Aww," Tenten squealed, "she's so_ cute_." Tenten gave Mikomi a hug as Neji just rolled his eyes.

They suddenly heard a big crash and snapped their heads around to see Lee jump from the log he had apparently just thrown in to the ground. Mikomi's eyes widened as she say a crack form on the log. Lee landed a few feet from it and went to jump only to crumple. Mikomi was gone in an instant, catching Lee, "Lee-kun," she exclaimed, "are you ok?" Mikomi slowly laid Lee on the ground as he winced, she could feel the heat and strain from his muscles. "Lee-kun," she said again, "Lee-kun!" When Lee didn't respond she fixed an angry glare on Gai, "that technique is dangerous," she nearly spat out, "you shouldn't be forcing him to learn it." Everyone felt the anger radiate off of her as she moved, she was in front of Gain in an instant.

"She's fast," thought Gai as he blocked her punch with his hand and jumped in to the air to dodge her sweep. Gai shook his hand as it tingled, "she's not very strong," he thought, "but she makes up for that in sheer volume of chakra she concentrates in the contact point." Gai heard Neji call out his bloodline limit and glanced over too see the mildly shocked look on Neji's face. Apparently Neji saw just how much Chakra she was pumping in to her attacks, from the look on his face Gai could tell it was a lot. Gai flipped backwards to dodge her backhand and snapped his legs around to dodge the follow up spinning kick. Gai Landed softly as Mikomi bore down on him attempting to land a punch to the top of his head. Gai waited till the last second before dodging allowing her to land the punch on the ground, his eyes widened slightly as he saw the slight hole she caused around her hand. "Hmm, that's definitely a lot of chakra," Gai thought as he saw the hole which was about twice the size of her fist and indeed deep. "You're his sensei," Mikomi said as she planted her other hand to do a flip, "you're not supposed to hurt your students!" Mikomi flew at him again before he had time to respond. Gai's eyes widened a little bit as he watched her plant her hand behind her to deliver the same straight mule kick he had just taught his students. Gai dodged it easily as her momentum sent her in to the air. She attempted to deliver a flip kick which Gai also dodged easily. Gai was on the ground in a moment and prepared to dodge the next attack when he heard Lee's voice cut through the air, "Mikomi-chan?" Lee said, "What are you doing?" Mikomi turned that flip kick into an actual flip and twisted in the air to land. In no more than a few moments she was at Lee's side.

"Mikomi-chan," Lee said, "What are you doing?" "Are you ok Lee-kin?" Mikomi asked as she helped Lee to a sitting position. Lee nodded, "please stop attacking my sensei, Mikomi-chan," Lee said as he shook his head. "But," Mikomi said, "he's teaching you a dangerous move, I felt the damage it caused to your body." Lee grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, "well, I sort of continued past where Gai-sensei had told us to stop," Lee said, "So it's really my own fault." "What!" Mikomi exclaimed, "You shouldn't have done that." Mikomi shot Gai an apologetic look before she returned her attention to Lee. Gai only nodded to acknowledge the apology before going over to examine the hole Mikomi had left in the ground.

Gai kneeled down to examine the small crater Mikomi had left, what surprised him the most was there was a six inch hole right in the middle of the crater. The crater itself was unimpressive only sinking the ground down a couple millimeters. "Neji," Gai said indicating that Neji should come to him. As Neji approached Gai stole a glance at Mikomi as she fawned over Lee. "What do you make of this Neji," Gai asked as he saw Tenten join Mikomi and Lee. "Hmm," Neji said as he examined it, "Byakugan," Neji said activating his bloodline limit. "Ahh," Neji said as he examined the hole, "interesting." Gai looked at Neji waiting for explanation, "it's similar to my Juken," said Neji, "Except this is designed to crush bones _and_ organs." "As I watched your battle with her I activated my Byakugan and noticed what was going on," Neji continued at Gai's prompting, "the initial attack is simply covering her hand with a large amount of chakra, causing the small crater here. We can safely assume she's not very strong." Neji indicated the small crater with a wave of his hand, "but," he continued, "There is a secondary attack here." Neji indicated the hole, "she forces Chakra out of the contact point as soon as she makes contact. Judging by the shape of the hole, she focuses her chakra from the metal plating on her gloves." Neji looked at Gai and sighed, "Basically, "Neji concluded, "she forces a column out of the contact point utilizing the metal as a focus, much like a minting press." Gai nodded, "so it's like getting hit with a jackhammer," he said as Neji nodded. "Your lucky you're trained to handle this sort of attack," Neji stated, "this could have caused some serious damage. It's not a style you should block." "Mm," Gai agreed as he turned to join the girls and Lee, whom was standing finally.

"I'm sorry Gai-sensei," Mikomi said as Neji and Gai joined them, "It's just…that I saw Lee like that…and...and...I just couldn't control my anger and worry." "It's ok Mikomi," Gai said giving her a knowing smile, "I completely understand." Mikomi smiled in relief as Gai shot Lee a warning look, "you know, my team trains here as often as we can," Gai said, "as often as we can anyways." Gai looked at Mikomi noting the confused expression on her face. Gai chuckled, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt for you to visit Lee here, and get to know Lee's team," Gai said, "Now, if you learn anything by observing or the team decides to help you is entirely up to them." Mikomi beamed catching, both, the invitation and the chance to hang out with Lee more. "Now," Gai said, "why don't I treat you all to dinner while Lee recovers. This invitation does include you Mikomi." Gai chuckled at the chorus of, "thank you," the only missing voice was Neji's.

A few months later Mikomi found herself rushing home angry and hurt. "I can't believe I let Ino-pig catch me like that," she thought, "what she said was just mean." She almost didn't notice the rock that was thrown at her. She quickly spun around blocking the stone with her knee pad and glaring at the drunken man who had thrown it, "why can't they just leave me alone," she thought. She glared at the man who was beginning to say something before his face fell in fear and he fell to the ground in shock.

Kakashi was hopping from rooftop to rooftop on his way back to report from a mission when he noticed Mikomi spin around and glare at some drunken guy. Something made his change direction and go over to where Mikomi was. "Crap," he thought as he got closer and saw Mikomi. Mikomi's eyes had become crimson as the pupils turned in to feral slits. The whisker marks on her cheeks had grown and her canines were larger. "Damn it," thought Kakashi as he lifted his hiate to reveal his sharingan, "this is bad." "Why do you keep attacking me?" Mikomi growled ferally, "I haven't done anything too you." "I'm sorry," the drunk said as he prostrated himself in front of her, "Forgive me." Mikomi glared at the man for a while before nodding. "Ok," Mikomi said, "thank you for apologizing." Kakashi sighed in relief as Mikomi walked away quickly. Kakashi looked at the few witnesses noting their rather surprised expressions. "Kyuubi took over," he thought following Mikomi, "but she took control, that's a good sign." Kakashi watched as Mikomi stumbled in to an alley and slid down the wall shaking her head, "suppose I better keep an eye on her," he thought, "just in case."

Mikomi had gotten really dizzy right after she left the drunken man there. She headed for an alley way and slumped against the wall as her mind reeled, she couldn't quite remember exactly what happened but she did have a headache now. After a few minutes of shaking her head and breathing heavily she finally stood up to head home. She finally made it to her apartment and lied down on her couch, passing out instantly.

Kakashi followed her home and peered in to her window to see her passed out on her couch, "that must take a lot out of her," he thought, "but at least she controlled it." Kakashi took one last look in to the window before heading off, "she's scheduled to take the genin exams again this year," he said aloud, "and that's only a couple days away." Kakashi picked up the pace to the Hokage's tower.

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A/N: Well I hope you liked this fic of mine. I received more reviews and noted this one was on more alerts than my other one so decided to update this one first. I do intend on updating my other fic soon, though. Anyways, this one took forever to write. It took me roughly 2 days to write it, of course, my tendency to get up and pace while I write didn't help much hehe. Please send me reviews on this one as well, though I am hoping for more meaty reviews. Let me know spots you liked, spots you didn't like so forth, I just want to make this one of the best fanfics out there for you guys. I will be gone for a short time so it may take me a week or so to update again. Anyways I really hope you liked reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it!


	3. Chapter 3

Uzumaki Mikomi

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the world so forth, no matter how much I wish I did.

A/N: Alright chapter 3 in all it's glory I hope you all liked it. Originally I was going to go with the anime for most of this then I realized that this is my story, and I was able to alter it as I saw fit. Besides I would simply be copying everything I saw with a character gender change, which strikes me as "blah" so from now on I will probably be alleviating from the story some, as characters develop around the new story line. I do intend on keeping close to the actual show though. Also I would like to give a heartfelt "thank you" to my new betas Aengus and Kitsune no Noriko. Give my betas a round of applause for turning this in to something that is infinitely easier to read.

Now on to the story

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Chapter 3: Burning Truth

The sun peaked in to her window as she sat up rubbing sleep from her eyes. She glanced around her room blearily, noting the early hour and sighing. With a quick flip, she was out of bed shutting off the alarm clock that was set to go off in a few hours. She hated getting up before her alarm clock. She glowered around her room a moment just now realizing she hadn't been to the academy in a few days and today was the final exams.

As that realization hit her she squealed in glee and headed for her bathroom, stealing a glance at herself in her mirror. She grinned, noting the silk teddy and shorts sleep attire Hinata had given her for her birthday still fit well. She scratched her exposed midriff as she turned on the shower.

One hot and relaxing shower later… 

She sighed contentedly as she stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair and one around her body. "Always did like a good warm shower in the morning," she thought as she sat on her bed allowing her body to dry on its own. She sat there letting the slight breeze run across her body from the slightly ajar window in her bedroom. Letting her mind wander over what she wanted to wear today, it roamed over the various outfits people had given her. She decided on the white tee with the pinkish flame symbol that sakura had gotten her and the light blue shorts that Tenten had given her on her birthday. That settled she finally stood up again heading back in to the bathroom to get dressed, grabbing her clothes on the way.

Several minutes passed as she finished getting dressed; finally she released her hair from the towel and let it drape its way down to her waist. She picked up her hairbrush and began running it through her hair as she frowned in to the mirror wandering what hairstyle to use today. She smiled as the idea hit her; she split her hair right down the middle pulling each half in to a small bun allowing a length to run from the bun to the middle of her back. She grinned brightly as she looked at herself in the mirror, _'I look just like that princess in that cartoon I used to watch as a kid,' _she thought, _'Oh… I always wanted to be as pretty as her, it would have been pretty neat to be named after the planets too.'_ She giggled, imagining she was a princess for a few minutes before she noted the time.

It was an hour before she had to leave, not for school mind you, is was still way too early for that, but she wanted to get in some extra practice before the final exam.

She stood up and headed for her kitchen, she knew there wasn't much in it, but at least there was some food. She reached in to a cupboard and pulled out a cup of ramen and put hot water in it.

"I hate waiting the three minutes for the ramen to cook," she though bitterly as she waited. "Finally." she said as she heard the bell from her microwave ding, "Time to eat!" She slurped the noodles loudly, _'Hey I'm at home, no need for manners.'_ she thought, _"And besides I have to hurry.'_ She took a gulp of her milk as she finished her meal and sighed happily. And, after depositing her empty cup in to her trash and placing her milk back in the laboring fridge, she headed out to practice her new technique.

_'Good… Couple hours before I have to be at the academy.'_ Mikomi thought, _'Gives me more time to practice this technique._' Her lips parted in a bright grin as she thought about the reactions she'd receive from the instructors when she showed them what she'd been practicing.

It only took a few minutes to get to the training ground she had chosen. A few minutes of concentration and standard stretches and she was done with her warm up. She started with a bit of target practice on one of the local trees, "Hey I'm getting better," She exclaimed excitedly as she saw her kunai hit the target dead center. Soon 5 kunai and ten suriken were buried in the tree all around the same spot.

"Now for some TaiJutsu…" she said to herself as she began to beat up on one of the combat posts nearby. After a bit of time doing that she decided she would play a game. She gathered up her ranged weapons and pretended she was sneaking up on an enemy shinobi, utilizing all the training she had received so far on the poor combat post.

She was sweating pretty hard when she realized the temperature had climbed since she started. At first she had just assumed it was from her exertion, but once she stopped and looked up she did note the sun was higher in the sky. "Uh oh," she sighed as she concentrated on the sun's position, "Oh no? I'm late."

She flew out of the training area after cleaning up her stuff, and headed for the academy at top speed. She quickly took to the roofs after almost plowing through an old man who was walking down the street.

She ignored the usual curses about "damn kids…" and "…never watch where they're going" as she poured on more speed to make it to the academy in time. A grin split her face as the academy came in to view, running pell-mell through the door and down the hall. AS the familiar classroom came into view, she began to try to put on the breaks.

Little did she know that the floors had recently been mopped and were still a bit slick. Planting her feet by the door she just got her hands in the handle as the rest of her body slid right past her, the door flying open with a huge crash. "Oh shi…," gasped as her hand slipped and she ended up down the hall and in a heap.

Iruka and the students looked at the door in surprised as it slammed open and they watched a flailing arm and leg go flying by. It took a few seconds for everyone to realize no one was coming through the door to enter the classroom as they blinked in stunned silence.

Shaking his head Iruka cleared his throat loudly, "Stay here," he ordered as he headed for the doorway cautiously. As Iruka walked closer to the door he noted a scuff mark on the floor just outside the room, upon poking his head out the door he noted a heap of something lying in front of the far wall. As soon as Iruka set foot on the floor he nearly slipped but quickly righted himself as he peered at the floor.

"What the…," He whispered as he leaned down carefully to slide his finger across the floor, "still wet?"

He frowned and glanced down the hallway in both directions, looking for the wet floor sign, which happened to be missing.

He scowled darkly as he looked to the pile down the hall, noting a janitorial cart tipped over about halfway down the hall. With a sigh, he started to make his way down the hall noting the scuff marks and scratches until the scent of fresh blood assaulted his nose and he glanced down at the cart. Right on the top metal cross member of the cart was a small pool of blood; he leaned to check it, noting that it was at least a small splatter. He looked towards the heap, again noting the janitorial supplies strewn out all over the hall, leading right to the body lying on the floor. He frowned at the observation that it was, in fact, a body.

He started on his way down the hall again, after noting a few swirls in the water on the floor. _'Who ever mopped this floor didn't ring the mop out well…'_ he thought as he slowly continued on his way, making sure he didn't slip on the very wet floors. When he was about three quarters of the way down the hall he saw the janitor's closet and was about to step in and yell at the janitor when he noticed the body at the end of the hall had beautiful golden blonde hair.

He gulped and ran over as quickly as he safely could, the person was lying in a semi fetal position both arms splayed out in front of them and legs curled up towards her middle.

"Mikomi," Iruka gasped as he knelt down to examine her, brushing the pony tails out of her face. He felt his stomach churn as he noticed the blood trickling from her mouth and nose, and hoped she was alright as he bent down to examine her wounds. He sighed in relief as he noticed her nose was fine, and a small gash on the inside of her lower lip, _"Must've bitten her lip as she ran in to the cart,"_ He thought.

A quick examination provided him with the information he needed. She had a fairly nasty knot on the back of her head, bloody nose, slight swelling in her left ankle, and a cut on her inner lip. He shook his head in relief as he picked her up with one arm behind her shoulders and the other under her knees, and began to walk towards the janitor closet. As he walked past the cart and noting the scuff marks and swirls in the water he surmised what had happened. _'She probably came running in to the academy at a full run…'_ he thought, _'Noting how she was late again and the final exams being today.'_ He sighed again, _'She probably tried to get in the classroom before we started by grabbing the door,"_ his mind continued to put the evidence together; _'And with no wet floor sign she wouldn't have known the floors were wet. Then when she tried to stop, her feet slipped on the wet floor and sent her careening down the hall. That also explains the door slamming open and the scream, as well as the flailing limbs we saw.'_ He nodded quietly as he continued to ruminate, _'She came sliding down the hall meeting the janitor's cart halfway… With her face.'_ at that thought Iruka grimaced slightly imagining the pain that shot through her face at that moment.

'_She took the cart a little ways with her; finally the wheels of the cart caught the floor and spun the cart out of the way. Unfortunately, judging by the swirls in the water on the floor, it sent her in to an uncontrolled spin. She probably slammed in to the far wall pretty hard, judging by the slight indent she left. Afterwards she finally slumped to the ground, apparently out cold.'_

Iruka growled slightly as he stepped in front of the janitor closet door. He planted a foot and launched his other foot in to the door, slamming it open with a very loud "wham".

A pimple ridden teenager started up at him completely surprised. "What the hell are you doing!" Iruka yelled at the kid loudly, allowing the anger to roll off of him in waves, "You're supposed to put down a sign when you mop, and you used way too much water and soap."

The Kid blinked in horror as the Academy instructor leveled a death gaze on him, quickly the blinking turned in to shaking as the kid tried to stammer out an apology.

"I don't want to hear it," Iruka roared, "You probably seriously injured one of the students!" The kid only nodded as the color from his face drained and he felt himself fall to the ground.

Iruka was about to yell at the kid some more when he heard a small voice saying something. He stopped for a moment tuning in his ears to pinpoint the voice.

"Iruka-sensei," the weak voice came again, "Please… Stop yelling… my head is killing me." After a couple seconds of looking around he finally let his eyes rest on the girl in his arms, looking her right in her deep blue eyes. He sighed in relief a little as her eye lids fluttered open a little more and she looked at him pleadingly.

"Alright," he said softly as he glowered once again at the kid, "Get out here and clean this mess up. This time don't use too much water and don't forget the sign." he hissed. The kid nodded mutely, stood up and grabbed the mop.

Iruka nodded as he continued his way down the hall, stopping at his classroom door he stuck his head in.

"I have leave you guys alone for a short time, just wait for me to return," he said as the kids in the room nodded and began to talk amongst themselves. "Kiba, close the door after I leave, OK?" Kiba nodded as Iruka continued his trek down the hall.

After a few moments he came to an intersection and took a right.

"Kami-sama I hope Misha is in today," Iruka prayed as he opened the nurse's office door and stepped in. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the brighter lighting in the nurse's office, but they did and he noticed Misha sitting at her desk going over a file.

"Misha-san," Iruka said as he closed the door behind him with his foot, "Mikomi had an accident."

The elderly nurse turned around to see who had spoken only to see Iruka with a fairly beaten Mikomi in his arms. Misha gasped seeing the usually bright and cheery child looking rather out of it.

"What happened, Iruka?" she asked as he set her down on a nearby bed.

"Oh…" Iruka replied with a sigh. "One of our janitorial staff was negligent." Misha nodded as she took the girls head in her hand and checked her nose and mouth seeing the blood there.

"Well," She said, "It appears the wounds to her nose and mouth are superficial… thank Kami-sama."

Iruka nodded, "She slammed in to a wall pretty hard," Iruka said as he stepped out of Misha's way.

The nurse nodded and felt around the back of Mikomi's head, much to the protests of the young woman. "It's ok Mikomi dear," Misha soothed as she felt the large knot on the back of her head, "No blood. That's good..."

Finally, Mikomi spoke, "My ankle 'n' back hurt a lot… and I have a killer headache."

Misha nodded, shining a pen light in Mikomi's eyes. "Well no signs of concussion," Misha said as she gently took Mikomi's foot in her hand, "Though it appears there is a minor sprain to your ankle dear." Misha took off Mikomi's shoe and the felt around her ankles, "….OK dear…" Misha said, "I'll have to ice your ankle a bit while I check your spine, alright?"

Mikomi nodded, it's not as though she had much choice, as she allowed herself to be rolled over on her stomach. Iruka held the ice pack to the young girl's ankle, as the medic began to feel Mikomi's back. "No damage to the spinal column that I can feel…" Misha said, "but I do want to run a test to be sure ok?"

Mikomi nodded again, "I hope I can still take part in the exam," Mikomi said, "I worked really hard for it."

"I know dear, I know," Misha soothed as she activated her medical jitsu.

Mikomi sighed as she felt the coolness Misha's jutsu spread across her back.

"Well," Iruka finally piped in, he couldn't take the silence anymore. "How is she Misha?"

"Shh," Misha shushed the teacher as she continued to run her hands along Mikomi's back, "It doesn't appear to be badly damaged. Just some minor bruising to her muscles but her spine is alright."

Iruka let out a breath of relief as Misha chuckled lightly, "OK Mikomi dear, roll over," Misha commanded gently.

Mikomi complied with Misha's request and rolled over, "will I be able to take part in the final exam?" Mikomi asked.

"I don't know…" Misha replied as the young woman's face fell, "Is there any running involved Iruka?"

Iruka shook his head, "No… none at all," He said as Misha turned to look at him.

"Ahh then I would say yes," Misha said as she handed Mikomi a couple of pills and a cup of water, "This should help that headache dear."

"Thanks," Mikomi exclaimed taking the offered items and downing them quickly, "I'm glad, I worked sooo hard."

Iruka and Misha smiled when they saw that dazzling smile Mikomi could give when she was really happy.

"Alright dear," Misha said, "Just let me finish wrapping your ankle and you should be fine, but no shoes or walking on that foot for a few days, got it?"

Mikomi nodded as Misha wrapped up her ankle and handed her shoe over.

Iruka stepped in and hefted Mikomi up as before with a chuckle, "You're a resilient one aren't you?" he asked patting her back gently.

It wasn't all that long before the two of them reached the door to their classroom.

"You ready?" Iruka asked the young girl in his arms.

"You bet," replied Mikomi with that dazzling smile of hers. "I want to pass this test."

The door slid open with a loud thunk as the chatter in the classroom stopped and everyone turned to stare at the door. And soon enough, Iruka strolled in carrying a very embarrassed Mikomi and a crutch.

Iruka strode to Mikomi's usual spot between Sakura and Hinata, in front of Chouji, Kiba, and Shikamaru and set her in her seat gently. He gave her a quick pat on the head and a glowered at the snickering students as he set her crutch near her.

"What happened?" Sakura and Hinata asked him simultaneously.

"I'll explain when I get back to the front of the class," Iruka told them, "It would make a good lesson that no one should forget."

Akamaru hopped out of Kiba's jacket and landed on Mikomi's lap with a whimper, before licking her face. Mikomi giggled lightly as she patted Akamaru gently, "I'm ok Akamaru," she said giving him a scratch behind the ears.

Iruka made his way to the head of the class and leaned on his desk taking a deep breath. "OK…" he started, "As you can see, Mikomi had a bit of an accident today. And before _any_ of you begin to snicker let me tell you it was not her fault." The class fell silent again as they turned to give Iruka their undivided attention. "Due to someone's carelessness," Iruka continued, "Mikomi was injured. If this had been on a mission she probably would have been killed." Iruka paused for effect while he stared around the room darkly. Many of the kids paled slightly and continued to stare at him.

"Now let me tell you…" Iruka finally started again, "Carelessness is a ninja's worse enemy, and remember your carelessness may not just affect you, but other ninja as well." The children nodded slightly as they looked between Iruka and the very embarrassed Mikomi. "I figured it'd make a good last lesson," Iruka said, "This is something you should all understand and know, not to mention never forget."

Once Iruka had finished speaking, he gathered up some papers that were on his desk, and began pouring over them in preparation for the final exam that after noon.

"I'm glad you weren't on a mission and you're ok." Chouji said giving Mikomi a warm smile.

"Thanks Chouji," Mikomi replied standing up on her good foot to give the heavy set gentle guy a hug.

Kiba snorted jealously," I'm glad you're ok too," Kiba said flashing Mikomi a gentle toothy smile.

"Thanks," Mikomi replied with a giggle giving Kiba a hug too.

Hinata and Sakura giggled as Kiba blushed slightly and Mikomi just beamed at her friends.

"Good to see you're ok," Shikamaru said before putting his head down to take a nap before he could be hugged too. Hinata and Sakura hugged Mikomi as well before giggling and lapsing in to the usual gossiping they normally do.

**AN HOUR LATER**

Iruka announced who was going to take the final exam and excused everyone for lunch. Mikomi was glad that her friends had made it to the exam as well, so she sat with Sakura, Hinata, Chouji, Kiba, and Shikamaru outside to eat.

"We made it!" Sakura said beaming,

"I hope we can all graduate this year." Mikomi nodded as she ate her cup of ramen.

"Piece o' cake," Kiba shouted as he fed some food to Akamaru, "We'll all make it this time, I can feel it." Everyone grinned, except Shikamaru who was too busy staring at the clouds to notice. The rest of lunch was eaten in relative silence, everyone was to busy wondering what the exam was going to be. After they were done eating they trooped back to the classroom with the rest of the students, Mikomi using her crutch, grumbling and cursing the "infernal thing" the whole way back.

"Everyone listen up," Iruka said as the last of the children settled in to their seats, "I'd like to congratulate you on getting this far and wish you luck during the exam."

"Also," Iruka continued, "I'd like to allow Mikomi to go last, to allow her some more time to recover from her injuries. Are there any objections?"

The students shook their heads with a few "no's" until Ino decided to start shouting about fairness and such.

"Sorry Ino," Iruka said, "majority rule."

Ino glowered at Mikomi as she sat back down and sulked.

"Ok, when I call your name come in to the exam room for your exam." Iruka said as he stepped in to the other room.

"Oh I'm so excited," Mikomi said, "I've been working so hard. I'm so ready for this." Her friends chuckled or giggled and agreed with her, she gave hugs all around for their support.

"Ok Mikomi," Iruka called out. "Time for you to try your hand at the exam."

Mikomi nodded, "Finally," she sighed, "I was getting so bored waiting."

Iruka chuckled as she grabbed her crutch and made her way to the examination room.

"Hello Mizuki-sensei," Mikomi said as she smiled and waved at the other instructor in the room.

"Hello Mikomi," Mizuki said as she took her place in front of the table in the room.

"Now," Iruka cut in, "today's exam consists of the Bushin technique ok?"

Mikomi nodded gently while laying her crutch against the desk behind her, "Whenever you're ready." she said as she smirked lightly.

After a few moments Iruka gave her the go ahead.

Mikomi grinned focusing her chakra using the ram seal, "Bushin no Jutsu!" she cried as a puff of smoke enveloped her. The smoke cleared to reveal a sickly looking clone lying on the ground.

Iruka sighed shaking his head, "Mikomi," he said, "That will only be a bother."

"But," Mikomi stuttered, "How can I be so bad with this one…The other one works fine." She pouted slightly staring at the useless clone.

"I can't pass you Mikomi," Iruka sighed, shaking his head and crossing his arms of his chest

"Hey now…" Mizuki interjected, "she did Replicate you know."

"As I said Mizuki, that one would only be a bother," Iruka replied with a frown rubbing the scar on the bridge of his nose.

"But…but…but," Mikomi stuttered, "I can do the other one just fine, how come this one sucks?" Mikomi looked at the Instructors pleadingly for an answer.

"I can't…," Iruka said before stopping himself, "Wait a minute, what other one?"

"I learned another clone technique I can do just fine watching some Jounin practice," Mikomi said as she dispelled the useless clone in a puff of smoke, "I just don't get how I can do that one just fine and not a regular one." Mikomi frowned rubbing her chin keeping her weight on her good leg.

"Hmm…" Mizuki said as Iruka raised an eyebrow, "Care to show us this other technique then?" Mikomi nodded, "sure," she said as she again took on the ram seal to focus her chakra. Mikomi's chakra rolled around her as she moved her hands to another seal, first and second finger out with all others tucked in. She placed those fingers across each other and called out, "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" as a large cloud of smoke filled the room.

After a few seconds the smoke cleared revealing 10 fully functional shadow clones. Mizuki and Iruka's jaws hit the floor as she stood there rubbing the back of her neck and grinning brightly,

"He He." she giggled, "Kage Bushin."

"Kage bushin?" Iruka and Mizuki said surprised, "that's a high level technique!"

"Is it?" Mikomi asked, "I got a couple of pointers from the Hokage for this one."

Iruka blinked before smiling proudly, "Well done Mikomi." he said, "You pass!"

"Yay!" Mikomi yelled as she jumped in to the air. While she was in the air the clones dissipated. Unfortunately, in her excitement, Mikomi landed on her bad leg and promptly fell to the floor landing on her rear.

"Ow!" Mikomi exclaimed as she rubbed her bottom for a second before grimacing and grabbing her ankle.

"Ack," Iruka exclaimed as he ran over to her with a hitai-ite in his hand, "Be careful Mikomi, let's not go over board here." Mikomi nodded slightly as she squeezed her eyes shut with pain.

After a few minutes the pain subsided and Mikomi opened her eyes to see Iruka kneeling in front of her with a hitai-ite in his hand. "Well done Mikomi," Iruka said as he tied the hitai-ite around her forehead, "…but be careful with the celebrating ok?" Mikomi nodded sheepishly before embracing Iruka in a big hug,

"Thanks Iruka-sensei," she said as she squeezed hard eyes shut again. Neither one noticed Mizuki glowering at them with very cold hate filled eyes.

"Ok Mikomi," Iruka choked out, "let go before you choke me." Mikomi giggled as she released Iruka and tried to stand up. Iruka reached out and helped her up gently grabbing her crutch and handing it to her, "Now, go to your friends and show that new hitai-ite off," he said with a chuckle.

"Yeah!" she exclaimed as she hobbled out the door.

"Remember be back tomorrow afternoon for your team assignment." Shouted at her as she was already half-way down the hall.

Mikomi nodded and headed out the door beaming for all to see.

"Quite a kid," Mizuki said plastering on the grin he always wore around Iruka.

"Yeah," Iruka said as he stood up and headed for the desk.

Mikomi sat on her usual swing as everyone was congratulated by their parents and loved ones. She sighed lightly feeling somewhat left out until she caught something out of the corner of her eye.

"Who's there?" Mikomi asked as she glanced around the area she was in. Suddenly a hand covered her eyes and she gasped,

"Guess who." someone said in her ear.

She giggled and smirked slightly, "Umm…" she said, "Let's see…Kiba?"

"What? No!" the voice exclaimed almost as if it were in pain.

Mikomi giggled, "Hmm how about Shino?" she asked.

The voice sighed once again feigning abject pain. "I know!" Mikomi exclaimed as she contained her giggle, "Sakura!"

"Arg," the voice exclaimed, "I don't sound like a girl!"

Mikomi giggled again but she knew she had to guess this next time, no matter how much fun this game was.

"Ok, ok," she sighed, "Lee-kun?"

"Alright," the voice exclaimed brightly as the hands were lifted from her eyes, "How'd you guess?"

Mikomi giggled as she turned around to face a very brightly smiling Lee, "Easy, it was the calluses on the hands," she stated giving Lee a playful grin. Lee chuckled as Mikomi enveloped him in a tight hug,

"Glad to see you graduated," Lee said.

Lee gurgled lightly as Mikomi tightened her hug, "How are you Lee-kun?" she asked.

"I'm doing alright," Lee choked out, "but you're going to kill me if you don't let go, you don't know how strong you've become." Mikomi giggled and planted a soft kiss on his cheek as she released him,

"If I have to…" she teased.

Lee blushed brightly from the kiss then shook his head removing a hand from behind him. Mikomi gasped as Lee presented her with a bouquet of beautiful goldenrods and baby's breath,

"Oh, it's so pretty Lee-kun!" she exclaimed accepting the gift gingerly.

"Hey… I made a promise didn't I?" Lee asked, "Promised I'd take you to dinner again when you passed." Mikomi nodded as she gingerly cradled the flowers to her chest.

"Oi," someone yelled as they heard footsteps approaching, "Glad to see you made it through." Lee and Mikomi glanced up to see Sakura, Kiba, Shikamaru, Choiji, and Hinata approaching.

"So…" Sakura said as she stopped in front of them, "Going out with your boyfriend today?"

Mikomi blushed brightly as Lee looked at Sakura slightly confused, "Oh," Mikomi stuttered, "Lee-kun's not my boyfriend, though."

Sakura and Hinata giggled as Kiba fumed slightly.

"Really we made this promise a year ago," Mikomi continued building speed, "So it's not so much a date as a celebration between good friends."

Sakura nodded knowingly as Hinata giggled again.

"I guess your right…" Sakura said, "It's not like you've actually been on a date with each other yet huh?"

Mikomi nodded slightly dejectedly as Kiba grinned slightly.

Suddenly Lee got that fire in his eyes and stood up straight with a fist in the air, "Yosh!" he exclaimed, "I got an idea; let's make this an official date."

Mikomi blinked and stared at Lee as she felt her cheeks turn a bright crimson, "Uh…um..." she stuttered as Kiba scowled again.

"Ermm." Lee said looking at Mikomi hesitate, "That is… If you want to, of course." Mikomi stuttered again looking at her friends for support as Hinata and Sakura giggled and nodded.

"Um…" Mikomi said, "um…sure I'd love too."

"Yosh!" Lee exclaimed, "It's a date then." Lee winked flashing her, his own special shining smile. Mikomi could only blush slightly and hug the flowers close.

"You two should get ready then," Sakura giggled, "I mean you have a date and all." Lee nodded looking at Mikomi, while she giggled brightly and grabbed her crutch.

Lee's eyes went wide as he saw her grab the crutch, "What happened?" he asked indicating the crutch.

"Oh I just slipped in the academy is all," Mikomi said, "Someone forgot to put out a wet floor sign and was mopping."

Lee frowned, "Are you OK?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, "I'm fine, just a sprained ankle." She shot Lee a dazzling smile guaranteed to melt anyone's heart and settled on to her crutch.

"We need to go Lee-kun," Mikomi said, "We've got reservations for five remember?" Lee nodded and offered his arm, which Mikomi graciously accepted and they headed off.

"What's he got that I don't got?" Kiba asked frustrated when they were out of ear shot, "I mean, I got the coolest dog in the world, all he's just got is an ugly haircut!" The others only shrugged and grinned at Kiba who realized his outburst and turned beet red with embarrassment

The two of them walked along the streets, talking and laughing. Mikomi valiantly trying to ignore the glares and words of the villagers, Lee taking mental notes, resisting the urge to pull out his little notebook, thinking of the best questions to ask Mikomi later.

The two of them got there just as the dinner rush was beginning,

"Oh welcome you two," the greasy man behind the counter said smiling, "usual table?"

They nodded as Gai strode up, "Yosh, not eating without me are you?" Gai asked as he flashed them both the "nice guy" pose.

"Oh Gai-sensei," Lee sighed, "we've actually decided to make this our first official date, you don't have to join us."

"Oh," Gai asked, "well… I'll be your chaperone then." Gai chuckled a moment before noticing Mikomi's crutch.

"What happened to you?" Gai asked indicating her crutch.

Mikomi sighed and waited a moment for the greasy man, whose name is actually Dimchii, to ask the same question. This happened not 3 seconds after Gai had asked. "Ok," she sighed, "Now that everyone is listening I'll tell you what happened." She glanced around her at them making sure they were all paying attention, "OK I slipped on some wet floors at the academy earlier today and sprained my ankle," she said all in one breath. "The janitor used too much soap and water and forgot to put up a warning sign."

The men around her nodded sagely as Dimchii showed them to their favorite table.

"Alright," Dimchii said as he seated them, "a waiter will be with you shortly." Dimchii smiled as they thanked him and headed back t the counter. The conversation around the table faded a little bit as Mikomi remembered why they were back in the restaurant they said they'd never eat in again.

_Flash Back_

_It had been a month after they had their initial encounter with the man. They were walking down the street after one of Lee's missions talking when he came up to them, _

"_Hey! Hey!" he had shouted, "Excuse me." They stopped and turned to see who was calling them only to frown as they recognized the man, _

"_What do you want?" Lee scowled as he stepped in front of Mikomi, placing himself between the two of them._

_It took a minute for the man to catch his breath, "I just wanted to apologize for my behavior last time," he had said between gasps, "I am truly sorry. You have both frequented my establishment and I was very rude."_

_They both had nodded at that as Dimchii bowed deeply, "I am truly sorry," he stated. Neither one of them believed him at first until they noticed the sincerity in his eyes. _

"_Well…" Lee had begun. _

"_We accept your apology," Mikomi had finished for him. Dimchii then smiled and bowed again, _

"_Thank you." he had replied, "Please, come again whenever you want, just remember to make reservations for the meal times." _

_They had both nodded before Mikomi grinned mischievously, _

"_You still use too much hairspray," she had said, "looks like your hair is greasier than a well-oiled bearing." _

_Dimchii had frowned and ran a hand though his hair, "Really?" he had asked, sounding stunned, then chuckled as he returned to his restaurant. "I actually own the place," he called over his shoulder, "So consider the invitation always good for you two." _

_They had nodded again smiling, "thank you again," they had shouted after him as he vanished in to the crowd outside his restaurant. _

_End Flashback_

Mikomi came back from her reverie to some one calling her name and shaking her gently,

"Huh?" she asked turning her head to see Lee smiling at her, "What?"

Lee chuckled, "Daydreaming, Mikomi-chan?" Lee asked.

"Oh no," she said blushing a bit, "Sorry guess I'm a little tired… Misha-san gave me some pills to help with the pain. They must be making me drowsy."

Gai chuckled and nodded, "Ahh… The springtime of youth," he sighed giving the two of them a thumbs up.

Mikomi giggled slightly and nodded, "I guess," she said.

"So Mikomi-chan, how does it feel to be a ninja now?" Lee asked grinning at her.

"It feels really good," she replied beaming at him, "really, really good. I finally realized one of my goals."

Gai chuckled, "Achieving goals in life is a good thing," he said as Lee nodded. Mikomi giggled and agreed with them as the waiter came up to take their orders.

The service had definitely gotten better in the establishment, at least from that first time, and the food was there soon after they ordered.

**Meanwhile**

Ten Jounin had gathered at the Hokage's office to discuss the team rosters.

"Seems we have an extra female ninja this year," stated Kakashi.

The Hokage nodded sagely, "Yes." he said, "Though unusual, but not unheard of." The Jounin nodded their agreement, "I've called you here so we can go over the team selections and make our team placements." the Hokage said looking at each jounin in turn. The jounin nodded in agreement again.

"Well Kakashi," the Hokage stated, "you've got the highest seniority here so you go ahead and choose a team."

Kakashi nodded looking over the roster of graduates, "Hmm…" he said.

"You should probably take the Uchiha," The Hokage observed as Kakashi nodded, "Sharingan and all."

"Of course Hokage-sama," Kakashi said as he looked over the roster some more, "I'll also take Uzumaki."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow as the other Jounin mumbled loudly.

"Why is that?" asked Kurenia frowning.

"For the same reason I have the Uchiha," Kakashi replied glancing over to her, "if the Kyuubi were to possess her only I would be able to keep up thanks to the Sharingan."

The Hokage sighed and nodded, "You're probably right Kakashi." he said leaning back in his chair.

Kurenia still seemed displeased, "You do know that she is _not_ the Kyuubi right?" she asked glowering at Kakashi. Kakashi felt like shuddering under those red eyes of hers, _'Those things are rather disconcerting,'_ he thought, _'It's like she can see right through me.'_

Kakashi, of course, maintained his calm façade, "I know," he said nodding. Kurenia maintained her glower, "It's just precautionary measure I assure you." Kakashi said allowing his eye to close, revealing he was probably smiling.

"Hmm…" the Hokage sighed, "A worthy precaution, but you do intend on treating her like anyone else correct?"

Kakashi nodded solemnly, "I promise to treat her like any other genin under my charge," Kakashi stated.

"Anyone else in mind Kakashi," the Hokage asked. Kakashi nodded peering at the roster again.

"I'll also take the Haruno, she seems to be very good friends with Uzumaki."

The Hokage Nodded as Kurenai frowned,

"You do realize they have first names right?" she asked, "Mikomi, Sakura, and Sasuke." Kakashi replied with a curt nod and stepped back allowing the other Jounin to choose their teams.

After the teams had been chosen, another Jounin appeared in the door way, "Hokage-sama," he exclaimed, "Someone has taken the scroll of sealing."

"What?" the Hokage roared as everyone gasped, "Go find them quickly we can't let that scroll fall in to the wrong hands." Everyone vanished in clouds of smoke as the Hokage dismissed them. The Hokage sighed darkly and rubbed the bridge of his nose while lighting his pipe and looking out his window.

**BACK WITH LEE AND MIKOMI**

Mikomi yawned as the three of them left the restaurant, "Wow, it got late," Mikomi stated noting the sun had already gone down.

"Yes it seems so." Gai said nodding, "You two should probably get home." Lee and Mikomi nodded. "Oh Lee, I expect you to escort the lady home." Gai said sternly, "It's how a gentleman should act, you know." Gai chuckled as he noted Lee nod and Mikomi blush slightly clutching the flowers closer to her person. "Alright, I expect you to get her home safe and sound then Lee," Gai said as he walked away, "and remember… Training early in the morning Lee."

"Yosh, Gai-sensei," Lee saluted as Gai vanished around a corner. "So Mikomi-chan," Lee said looking at her, "Let's get you home then." Mikomi smiled and blushed again,

"Thank you," she sighed as they started to walk down the street.

They had only been walking a few minutes when someone stepped out in front of them and pointed at Mikomi threateningly,

"Hey demon brat," the man slurred denoting his drunkenness, "what are you doing with a hitai-ite on?"

"What do you want?" Lee asked taking a step in front of Mikomi protectively, "and what do you mean 'demon brat'?"

"I mean she's a demon, she the Kyuubi," the man slurred as he took a step forward.

"What are you talking about" Mikomi asked stepping around Lee, "Kyuubi was destroyed by the fourth."

Lee kept himself between Mikomi and the drunk, "I can protect myself Lee," Mikomi said, "I am a kunoichi now."

"True," Lee replied, "but you're still injured." Lee nodded towards her injured ankle, "You shouldn't fight right now."

Mikomi sighed at his logic and stayed still as Lee stepped around her again.

"What she says is true." Lee said, "History states that the Kyuubi was destroyed when the fourth sacrificed himself."

The drunk laughed and took another lurching step forward, "That's what they want you to think kid," he said, "It's a lie."

Mikomi frowned as her mind began to put the pieces together with the new information.

"It's logical," she said looking at Lee, "I mean, everything makes sense now."

Lee frowned, "Don't listen to him Mikomi-chan," Lee said, "he's drunk. Besides I don't see how you could possibly be a demon, you're too sweet."

Mikomi blushed a little with a smile before frowning again, "But it makes sense now, why everyone hates me and all."

Lee's frown became dark scowl as he faced down the drunk, "Stop spouting off lies." He said as the drunk took another step forward.

"It's the truth," the drunk slurred, "the Kyuubi was…" Suddenly the drunk fell in to a heap as an ANBU appeared.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," said an ANBU in a bear mask, "Take him away."

Mikomi looked at the man in the bear mask and frowned, "is it true?" she asked, "Is he telling the truth?"

The bear ANBU sighed, "I can't say," he said as his shoulders slumped a bit, "It's the law."

Lee sighed and gently took Mikomi's crutch placing it in the bear ANBU's hands, "Please carry this for us," Lee said as he scooped Mikomi off her feet and began running to the Hokage's tower.

"Damn," muttered the Bear ANBU as he took to the rooftops, "better warn Hokage-sama they're coming."

Lee took to the rooftops after the ANBU did and continued on the journey to the Hokage's tower, "We'll ask Hokage-sama," he said as he cradled Mikomi to his chest a little more.

The Hokage glanced back just before the Bear ANBU appeared in his office, "Something has happened," the Hokage observed.

The ANBU nodded, "she knows Hokage-sama," he said, "Mikomi Knows, so does Rock Lee."

The Hokage sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose, "As if we didn't have enough problems now," he said sitting in his chair. The ANBU nodded as a knock rang out on the door.

The Hokage sighed again taking a puff of his pipe, "Leave the crutch and go help with the search for the missing scroll of seals," he said.

"Yes sir," the ANBU said leaning the crutch on the Hokage's desk and vanishing in a puff of smoke. The Hokage took a long pull of his pipe before looking at the door, "Come in."

Lee walked in carrying Mikomi bridal style and set her on a chair.

"I know why you're here." the Hokage said as Lee took the other chair.

"Is it true oji-san?" Mikomi asked peering at the Hokage pleadingly, "Am I the Kyuubi?"

The Hokage sighed looking very weary, "No, it's not true," he said, "You are _not _the Kyuubi"

Lee frowned looking the Hokage in the eye, "Hokage-sama," she started, "According to that man, she is the Kyuubi."

The Hokage sighed shaking his head, "She is **not** the Kyuubi, she merely has it sealed in her." the Hokage stated.

Lee and Mikomi looked at the Hokage curiously for a moment.

"So I have the Kyuubi sealed in me?" Mikomi asked, "I mean, I'm not like the Kyuubi incarnate or anything?"

The Hokage chuckled lightly, "No, nothing like that," he said, "It was sealed in you when the fourth defeated the Kyuubi. He destroyed its physical body sealing its soul in you."

"I see," Lee and Mikomi said together as they digested the information. "I thought so," Lee stated.

"Why didn't anyone tell me the truth then?" Mikomi asked, "Why hide it from me?"

The Hokage sighed deeply, "I passed that law to protect you," the Hokage said looking at the two genin in front of him, "I didn't want anyone sharing the information with the other children and poisoning friendships before they could start."

Lee and Mikomi again nodded, "So it was to protect her." Lee affirmed glancing over at Mikomi and smiling, "Well, I don't know about everyone else, but I don't see a demon fox." The Hokage and Mikomi turned to look at Lee an amused smile on the Hokage's face, "I just see Mikomi-chan, my girlfriend and a wonderful person."

Lee smiled standing to give Mikomi the full "nice guy" pose, "You're wonderful," he said.

Mikomi blushed brightly, "Thank you, so are you." she giggled flashing Lee one of her own dazzling grins.

"I'm sorry you had to find out that way Mikomi," the Hokage said, "I wanted to keep you safe."

"It's OK oji-san." Mikomi replied, "I'm just glad I know _why_ now."

The Hokage chuckled at this, giving them both a smile of his own. "Please don't punish the drunk though." Mikomi requested, "He told me the truth, don't punish him for that."

"Hmm…" the Hokage sighed taking another puff of his pipe, "he broke the law Mikomi." he stated.

Mikomi fixed the Hokage with a pleading look, "Please, he told me the truth," she said, "I don't want him to be punished for telling the truth."

The Hokage frowned slightly glancing out his window a moment, "alright," he replied gently, "He won't be punished for telling you the truth, but he will be punished for being drunk in public. We do have an ordinance against that."

Mikomi's smile lit up the room as she nodded furiously, "sounds fine to me," she said as Lee patted her shoulder gently.

Suddenly a Jounin appeared behind them, "Hokage-sama, we have caught the thief," he said, "Mizuki was the one who stole the scroll."

The Hokage looked at the Jounin for a second before nodding and sighing.

"Mizuki-sensei is a thief?" both Lee and Mikomi exclaimed, "I can't believe it."

The Hokage shrugged lightly and dismissed the jounin, who gave a quick bow and departed, "Sometimes it is who you least suspect," the Hokage sighed to the two of them, His eyes going distant. "As Shinobi you have to look underneath the underneath to find out the truth sometimes."

Both Genin nodded again with frowns, "He seemed so nice too," Mikomi said.

Once again the Hokage sighed tiredly taking a puff of his pipe, "Looks can be deceiving, it is a truth of this world and life," he stated gently, "now… you two should head home, I'm sure you don't want to be late for anything tomorrow and it's already pretty late."

"Oh," Mikomi frowned, "you're right oji-san. We should go now."

Lee nodded grabbing Mikomi's crutch and slinging it around his shoulder, "I'll carry you home then…" he said, "To save time." Mikomi giggled as Lee cradled her in his arms, while she cradled the flowers in hers.

"Thank you for speaking with us Hokage-sama," Lee said with a bow, "we will leave you alone now." Mikomi smiled her agreement and snuggled in to Lee's chest as Lee left the room.

The Hokage chuckled lightly as the two genin left his office, "we do have some good kids this year," he thought, "I think they have inherited the will of fire." The Hokage put out his pipe at that and headed for his door.

"YOU SHOULD STOP SMOKING OJI-SAN!" called Mikomi from Lee's arms, the Hokage dropped the pipe from his lips as he sweat dropped.

It only took a few minutes for Lee to get them to her apartment. "Here we are," Lee said setting her down and handing her the crutch, "safe and sound."

Mikomi Smiled brightly at Lee and nodded, "Yeah… Home…" she said, "Thank you Lee-kun."

"For what," Lee inquired.

"For a wonderful night and for being there for me," A single tear streaked down Mikomi's cheek as she smiled up at Lee warmly, "I'm happy you still like me after the truth came out."

Lee scoffed, "You're not a monster Mikomi-chan," he stated with a smile, "You're a beautiful and wonderful girl who I really like."

Mikomi giggled and blushed slightly, "Thanks," she sighed leaning in to give Lee a quick kiss on the lips, "I'm still thankful I have such a wonderful boyfriend," she said as she slipped in to her apartment and closed the door gently.

Lee stood in the hallway in a daze, "my first kiss," he thought as his hand touched his lips, "wow."

After what seemed like eternity, Lee made his way out of the apartment building with a skip in his step and a dumb grin plastered on his face.

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A/N: Again thanks to my betas who will be fixing up my previous chapters for me when I get back to Spokane. As I said I am going to try my own semi original story so things may change from here on out. Also I realized I had been misspelling "Uzumaki" for the first couple of chapters, that will change from here on out. Thanks for reading and Please: review, review, review! Next chapter will hopefully encompass meeting the jounin and survival training, depending on length it may cover a couple of minor missions too.


	4. Chapter 4

Uzumaki Mikomi

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Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_, though I really wish I did!

A/N: Sorry for the wait on this one folks, many things came up recently for me and my betas and we got sideswiped by life. But fret not! I have no intention of letting this pass to the wayside just yet. Now I would like to send a huge "THANKS" to my beta's who did a wonderful job once again. Also I would like to thank someone else; they go by the name of Riiiceballe. This person has sent me a review for each and every chapter I have posted on this story and I'd like to thank them for their enthusiasm for my story. It's always good to have a fan! Anyways, now on to the chapter!

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Chapter 4: Kakashi's Torture

Mikomi woke up before her alarm and stretched languidly glancing around her room a moment.

She blinked when her eyes fell on her alarm clock, '_Whoa_…' she thought, _'woke up early today... must be really excited.'_ She giggled lightly as she swung her legs out of her bed, setting her bare feet on the floor. She shivered when her feet made contact with the cold wooden floor of her apartment.

"I hate this floor in the morning," she sighed as she stood up and clutched her thin nightgown around herself, "Actually… I hate this apartment…heating doesn't work all that well and it's always cold."

She shivered again as the cold air of the apartment passed through her thin nightgown seeming to get through the thin worn fabric with ease.

She had owned this nightgown for years; it was one of the few things the Hokage was able to get for her. He had given it to her as a birthday present when she turned ten; and though it was a great nightgown, she had grown recently and now it only went to her knees instead of to her ankles like it was supposed to.

She sighed again as she headed for her bathroom, _'Please… at least give the shower hot water,'_ she thought, as she entered the bathroom.

Quickly, she stripped off her nightgown, letting it fall to the floor with her various undergarments. Then, before freezing, she cranked the knob of her shower all the way to the "H" and stepped under the gradually warming jet of water.

She groaned as the water began to turn cold.

"Already?" she whined, it seemed like it had only been two minutes after she had gotten in the shower, and she had only just gotten the shampoo into her hair. She sighed as she finally shut the freezing water off after getting the last of the suds out of her hair, and slid back the half rotten shower curtain. She made her way to the mirror in the bathroom, covering her medicine cabinet, and wiped away the steam to look at her reflection.

'_Must have been in there longer than I thought,'_ she thought. _'My hands are already all pruney.'_ She grimaced at that, before, once again, looking into the mirror. She smiled slightly as she shook her head, watching her wet hair sway back and forth before allowing it to settle down her back. She noted it was about time for another trim as she felt the hair cling to her back, coming to rest about halfway down her bottom. She then grabbed her towel and wrapped it around herself, and picked up her broken hairbrush.

Mikomi grimaced as she ran the brush through her hair, finding several knots at the ends. She frowned after finishing brushing her hair, she just knew she had split ends and she hated split ends with a passion.

Her hair was one of her prettiest features, or so she had been told, she loved her hair and took care of it better than most girls her age did, though she would never admit it, it was because most of the villagers could not do anything truly damaging to her hair without severe repercussions from the Hokage himself. Quickly, she tied her hair up in to the duel bun-ponytail style she had been using for a few days now and sighed contentedly. She didn't dry it; she preferred to let it dry naturally. It always seemed her hair dried perfectly, no frizz or any of the other problems the other girls seemed to have with their hair. She smiled, remembering that whenever Sakura complained about her hair, she would always mention how her hair was always obedient, sending Sakura into a corner sulking and muttering; Mikomi was lucky her hair obeyed her.

She stopped at the closed door to her bathroom and sighed resolutely, _'It's gonna be really cold...'_ she thought. _'And I am **not** looking forward to that.'_

She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath before opening the door, still her teeth chattered slightly as she felt the cold air of her bedroom wash past her like an artic wind. She took another deep breath before stepping out on to the cold hard wood floors of her bedroom and headed for her dresser.

Then she felt it.

Someone was in her room.

Her hand went to her thigh and she cursed when she didn't feel the familiar leather of the kunai pouch on either leg. She tugged her towel tighter around her body when she noticed that she knew the person who was sitting on her bed, with his back to her.

"What do you want oji-san?" she asked as a blush started to creep across her body.

"Oh." the Hokage said not turning around, "I came to check in on you when I heard your alarm going off." The Hokage chuckled slightly as he stood up never turning around to look at her, "It's got quite a good alarm I noticed. Seems Iruka knows where to get some good alarm clocks, eh?"

"Um…yeah." She stuttered slightly as she moved further in to the room. "He does."

The Hokage chuckled again, "I was coming to wish you luck with your new ninja lifestyle." he stated confidently. "I believe you can do it, you know. Now all you have to do is go out and show everyone else you can."

Mikomi smiled lightly at his vote of confidence in her, "Thank you oji-san," she said, "I needed to hear something like that." The Hokage smiled as he headed for her living room, "I'll get someone in here to fix that broken window today, while you're at school ok?"

"Ok," she said with a smile, "and thanks again."

The Hokage only chuckled again as she heard her front door close and the lock turn over.

"Kami-sama." She breathed slumping on her bed, "He scared the crap out of me… but it's nice to know that someone believes in me." She giggled slightly as she finished drying off and headed, once again, for the dresser.

She didn't waste much time getting dressed, most of the wrapping she needed to do being second nature by now.

"Finally," she sighed, "I'm ready." She glanced at her alarm clock and noted the time with a frown, "Gotta get going if I want to be on time today," she thought as she headed for the door in a rush.

She barely avoided colliding in to someone as she ran by the training grounds; she simply ignored the curses that wafted to her ears. She snickered as she watched which training area she was running by. _'I still got a little time.'_ she thought, _'I can go say hi at least.'_ She smirked as she came upon the grounds, she could already hear the voice of Gai on the winds. _'Wonder if I can sneak up on them.'_ she thought again, before heading for the underbrush and making her way forward cautiously.

She snickered again as she crept closer to her "prey" noting they didn't seem to notice her at all. She inched closer and closer until Neji glanced in her direction.

"We know you're there," he stated in his cold stoic manner. "Come on out."

She sighed and frowned as she finally slipped out of her hiding spot to look at everyone, proudly displaying her hitai-ite.

"Aww," Tenten grinned at Mikomi, "You passed, sorry I couldn't make it to the graduation. I had to help my folks with a few things."

"S'kay," Mikomi said as she smiled back at Tenten, only to be swept up in to a hug by her "ni-chan."

"I'm so glad you made it," Tenten squealed in her ear. "You worked so hard." Mikomi nodded as she returned the embrace.

Suddenly Mikomi and Tenten were surrounded by green clad arms as they were hefted in to the air. "How are my two favorite girls?" asked Lee as he squeezed them. Mikomi giggled as Tenten swatted at the underside of Lee's arm.

"You put us down." Tenten huffed, "Before you squish poor Mikomi-chan."

Lee obliged the request and allowed the girls to disentangle themselves from each other before catching Mikomi as she plowed in to him, embracing him in a tight hug.

"Just thought I'd drop in and say hi before I go to meet my team," Mikomi said planting a kiss on Lee's cheek. "You know, in case we don't get to see each other for a long time."

Tenten nodded as she watched Mikomi release Lee with a sigh, "Well… glad you did," Tenten said, "Sometimes missions can keep us out of the village for a long time."

Mikomi nodded sadly before giggling, "Maybe we can do a mission together sometime." she said, flashing them a bright smile. Tenten couldn't help but giggle as well. "Sounds like fun," Tenten said as she turned to see Gai coming up.

"Ahh Mikomi-chan," said Gai as he walked out of the woods. "When did you get here?"

"Roughly 10 minutes ago," Neji stated, in his usual deadpan voice. "She's been 'saying hi' to everyone." Neji looked at Mikomi with his usual stoic indifference.

"Feh, you need to get a personality Neji," Mikomi said, "I've seen better personalities in two bit comic books."

Neji graced her with nothing but his usual indifference as she sighed and returned her attention to the others.

"Yeah I just thought I'd come by and say hi before I meet my team," she told Gai, "I hope we won't end up missing each other to often."

"No need to worry about that Mikomi-chan," Gai replied, "I'm sure it won't be that bad. You're always welcome to drop by our training grounds here when you have some free time and say hi whenever you want." Gai fixed Mikomi with his "nice guy" pose as Lee praised Gai for his compassion.

Mikomi Giggled lightly turning around to look at the sun, "Oh… I gotta go now," she said, "Bye guys, hope we can see each other often."

"Hai," everyone said, except Neji, "'Hope so too Mikomi-chan." Mikomi disappeared in to the trees as team Gai watched.

"Make us proud Mikomi," Gai Whispered lightly before turning back to his students. "Time for some training!" he bellowed as everyone came to attention.

Mikomi ran through the street with a grin plastered on her face. _'I can't believe this is finally happening'_ she thought noting the academy coming in to view. She glanced back at the sun and grinned even more. _'Right on time today.'_ she thought giggling, before scowling slightly, '_Damn it… I forgot to give Lee-kun a good-bye kiss… I'll have to get up extra early later this week to see him now…'_

Mikomi came screeching to a halt in front of her classroom door before tossing it open and wandering in gracefully, like a lady at a ball. Sakura and Hinata giggled at her as she took her seat like a proper lady and demurely folded her hands in her lap, looking every bit the stoic princess.

"I see those etiquette lessons are working out," Sakura giggled as Hinata smiled warmly. "Kami knows we worked hard to teach you."

Mikomi giggled giving Sakura a nudge, "Well, we're ninja now, I have to show proper manners," Mikomi said.

All three girls giggled lightly as Kiba, Choiji and Shikamaru chuckled, "I suppose so," said Kiba petting Akamaru.

Akamaru jumped out of his owner's jacket and licked Mikomi's face as Kiba leaned forward, watching Iruka enter the room.

"Well," Iruka said taking attendance, and noting that Mikomi seemed fine for once. "I suppose it's time to give out the team assignments." He cleared his throat as he brought a piece of paper to eye level, "team one…"

It took Iruka a few minutes to get through some of the teams with varying degrees of hurrahs and complaints, "Team Seven," he called out. "Uzumaki Mikomi, Haruno Sakura…"

Both girls squealed and giggled giving each other a hug, "We're on the same team," they said in unison and loudly.

Iruka raised his eyebrow at the interruption before clearing his throat, "So it seems, care to let me get to the last person on your team? Or do you two plan on carrying on all day?" Iruka said in a chiding voice.

Both girls blushed brightly and sat back down, effectively embarrassed for their outburst.

Iruka chuckled under his breath before continuing, "Final member of team seven is…Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura about squealed in delight as Mikomi rolled her eyes, _'Great.'_ she thought, _'We get the dark brooding one in the corner.'_ She frowned slightly glancing over at Sasuke who seemed to be rather bored with the whole thing with his hands clasped in front of his face.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he glanced over at the girls, though no one could tell it with his hair in his face, _'Great.' _He thought. _'I get the two airheads. They'll only drag me down.'_ He sighed slightly as he returned his attention to Iruka saying nothing; he kept the stoic indifferent mask on as he listened.

Iruka finished announcing the teams and excused everyone to an early lunch, "Be back by noon, to meet your jounin instructors," he called out as the genin filed out of the classroom. Iruka chuckled knowing that only about a third of them will pass the next phase, _'They'll learn eventually.'_ he thought as he headed for Anko's house for lunch. _'I hope she made those dumplings I love so much.'_ he thought as his mouth watered lightly and he sped up.

The students had run off to various places to be with their teammates, unfortunately for Sakura and Mikomi, Sasuke had vanished as soon as he left the academy.

Mikomi pouted with Sakura noting that Sasuke was gone. "Damn." she cursed. "He got away, how are we going to get to know him now?"

Sakura only shrugged lightly, "Who knows? Maybe we'll find him." The two girls set out looking for Sasuke, splitting up.

Mikomi smirked slightly as she noticed Sasuke standing in the window of a nearby building, _'I wonder how strong he is…'_ she thought as she jumped up to the ledge that was close to his position, _'Time to find out.'_

Mikomi noticed Ino and her new team, Chouji and Shikamaru, watching her but she pretended she hadn't seen them. She crept closer and closer to the window until she could smell the rice ball Sasuke was eating, a small smirk played across her face as she dove in, tackling him to the ground. She allowed her foot to take out the pole that held the shutter up as she landed a decent punch to Sasuke's face.

"Gotcha." she said.

The scuffle only took a few minutes, Mikomi smirked the entire time, as the look that Ino had to have on her face played through her mind.

Sasuke was faster than she had anticipated and she found herself dodging a couple of blows before she was grabbed from behind and tied up rather roughly.

"What do you want?" Sasuke hissed. Suddenly Sasuke felt himself grabbed from behind.

"I told you I gotcha." Mikomi hissed in his ear as she wrapped rope around his body and tied a rather tight knot. A quick application of tape to his mouth and he was totally helpless, the shadow clone he had tied up vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Mikomi caught her breath and giggled at the now immobile Uchiha, "Well I caught you so easily." she said grinning at him, "And here I thought it'd be a challenge." Sasuke struggled against his bonds futilely, whatever he was growling was muffled by the tape.

"Anyways," said Mikomi, "I think I'll borrow your form for a bit, how's that sound?" All Sasuke could do was grumble as she transformed in to an exact duplicate of him, right down to the signature scowl. "How do I look?" she asked giggling and twirling around so he could see the whole transformation.

She kneeled down to get near his ear, "Can't let your little fan girl out there think you were beaten by me," she giggled again. "Can we?" Mikomi grinned at Sasuke as she stood up, noting the glower he shot her. _'If looks could kill…'_ she thought as she turned to open the shutter.

"Toodles," she said opening the shutter and placing the pole back where it goes. Mikomi quickly leapt away smirking slightly, leaving Sasuke to glower after her.

Mikomi waited until she was out of Ino and her teams' sight before giggling and letting down the transformation.

"He put up a pretty good fight," she said to herself, "Depending on how long it takes him to get out of those ropes, he might just be worthy of being on the team." She smirked skipping down the road, heading towards the park where she knew Sakura was.

Mikomi walked up to the bench she saw Sakura eating her lunch at. "Give up?" Mikomi asked as Sakura looked up at her.

"Yeah… I got hungry and I couldn't find him anywhere, no sense in wasting my lunch time looking." The pink haired kunoichi replied.

Mikomi nodded with a knowing look on her face sitting next to Sakura and producing her own lunch bag.

Sakura caught the look and raised an eyebrow at Mikomi, "Do you know something?"

"Huh?" Mikomi asked glancing at Sakura, "What are you talking about?" Any trace of the knowing look was gone, being replaced by a totally blank one.

"Uh huh…" Sakura sighed, "Whatever, time to eat!"

Sakura dug in to her lunch as Mikomi ate her peanut butter and honey sandwich.

"You know you should eat better," Sakura stated, "I mean eating that isn't exactly healthy."

Mikomi grunted a reply before glancing at Sakura and swallowing her bite. "It's all I had left," she said, "My fridge conked out last night."

Sakura sighed and looked at Mikomi taking a bite of her food. "Did you call a repairman?" Sakura asked as she swallowed.

Mikomi nodded as she took a drink of her water, "Yeah, but they are all backed up." Mikomi sighed, "It's always hard for me to find a repairman." Mikomi lowered her head slightly as she remembered why it was so hard. _'Damn fox…'_ she thought, _'why did I have to be the one?'_

"Oh?" Sakura asked snapping Mikomi out of her thoughts, "We have a really good repairman living nearby. Maybe I could see if he'd be willing to fix your fridge."

"You think so?" Mikomi asked. Sakura nodded taking a bite from an apple, "Yeah, he's really nice," Sakura said. "He always comes by to fix our fridge for a couple of free sweets." Sakura giggled as she looked at Mikomi, "Who would have guessed he had a huge sweet tooth," she said. Mikomi only smiled happily as she took another bite of her sandwich.

"Thanks," she said. They finished the rest of their meal in comfortable silence.

A little while later

"We should get back to the academy," Sakura said glancing at the sun, "it's almost noon now."

Mikomi nodded finishing off her water. "Yeah… I guess so."

They both stood up and tossed their garbage in to a nearby garbage can.

"You go ahead Sakura," Mikomi said, "I gotta go to the bathroom." Sakura nodded as she ran off towards the academy and Mikomi headed for the nearest rest room.

Sasuke was walking down the pathway when he ran in to Sakura on her way back to the academy.

"Hi Sasuke-kun," she purred as she ran up to him. "Where have you been? Mikomi and I were looking for you everywhere." Sasuke only grunted as he looked at her with the same indifference he used for everyone. After a few moments of her fawning all over him he finally got tired of it.

"Have you seen Mikomi?" he asked her. "I have some words I need to say to her." Sakura blinked before replying.

"Yeah she went to the bathroom," she said, inwardly pouting that Sasuke was looking for Mikomi and not her. Sasuke merely nodded before he started off again, heading for the nearest restroom to the park. Sakura sighed pathetically before, once again, traipsing to the academy.

Mikomi was making her way down the path from the rest room when she noticed Sasuke walking up, scowling.

"Oh so you escaped?" she asked sweetly as she stopped to wait for him to get to her, "That was quick."

"Escaping a knot is basic ninja training," he stated as he stopped in front of her, hands in his pockets, "why did you attack me?"

She shrugged before grinning slightly, "I had to see if you were strong enough to be on mine and Sakura's team." she said flatly, "Seems you are and I'm glad. Sakura really likes you."

Sasuke grunted a reply before fixing her with a piercing stare, which didn't seem to phase her in the least, "I see," he said as he looked her up and down, causing a slight blush to creep to her cheeks. He frowned slightly wondering how this girl could have bested him before he turned on his heel. "We should hurry back," he stated as he began to walk off. Mikomi nodded as she took to following him, giving him a wide berth.

The new genin filed in to the classroom after lunch, most a little late, and took their seats. Iruka cleared his throat, "Okay…" he started, "Your Jounin-sensei should be here soon, please wait patiently for them."

The genin nodded their heads as Iruka picked up some paperwork, "I have to go start my lesson plan for next year," he stated, "I'll see you around." Iruka smiled and waved as he left the class to its own devices.

It didn't take long for the Jounin to begin to show up to call their teams and head out of the classroom while Sasuke, Sakura and Mikomi sat there waiting.

"Where is that guy?" Sakura said in exasperation as she paced back and forth near the lectern. Sasuke merely stared at the door with that indifferent expression on his face, hands clasped in front of his chin.

Mikomi, on the other hand, was finding it rather hard to stay awake; she yawned and stretched moving closer to the front and taking a seat there. "Who knows Sakura," she said. Sakura grumbled as she continued to pace back and forth for a while.

Sasuke finally got bored and wandered to the front of the classroom leaning on the desks in front, hands in his pockets. Sasuke glanced between the two girls he was saddled with and sighed lightly; making sure it wasn't loud enough to be heard by anyone. _'These two really are worthless…'_ he thought as he watched Sakura pace angrily and Mikomi begin to fall asleep, _'…Definitely burdens.'_

It only took Mikomi a few minutes to fall asleep waiting, her shoulder rising and falling rhythmically, all of the tension that had been stored in her body melting away. Sasuke glanced at her again noting her head down and her arms around it; her hair was fanned out around her arms.

Sakura was definitely not a happy woman, Sasuke observed, she was pacing even more furiously with her hands behind her back. Sasuke glanced at the clock again and shook his head lightly continuing to watch the irate girl pace and the tired one sleep.

It was almost 2 hours after they had filed into the room when they finally heard the door slide open. Sasuke glanced at the door nonchalantly while Sakura turned a baleful eye to it. After what seemed like an eternity the door stopped and a silver haired man stuck his head in, a little orange book in his hand.

Apparently the sound of the door thunking open startled Mikomi because her head came up with a start and her hands released a couple of kunai aimed for the man's face.

The man acted quickly bringing up his free hand to catch the kunai in between his fingers just before they pierced both of his eyes. Sasuke glanced over at Mikomi as Sakura, forgetting her ire, started gaping like a fish and attempted to stutter out an apology.

"Hmm," the man said, "My first impressions….I hate you."

Sasuke frowned as Mikomi rubbed the sleep from her eyes noting the man in the doorway.

The man glanced at everyone before indicating they should follow him, tossing the kunai back at Mikomi.

Mikomi caught them and placed them back in her holster looking slightly embarrassed for trying to kill their instructor so quickly.

It only took a few minutes for the jounin to lead them to a rooftop and lean on a nearby post.

"Take a seat." He said gesturing to the steps in front of him. Once the genin were seated he sighed and put his book up, "Now why don't we get to know each other," he stated, "Tell me about yourselves."

"What do you want to know," asked Sakura looking at the man.

"Well… You know…" the man replied, "Tell me your names, your likes and dislikes, hobbies, goals in life. That sort of thing."

"Umm," Mikomi said looking up at the man, "Why don't you go first, you know, to show us how it's done."

"Alright," the man said lazily, "my name is Hatake Kakashi; I have no intentions of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my hobbies," at this he stopped to think for a moment. "My goal in life, you don't need to know." Kakashi shrugged and looked at his charges. "Your turn." he said.

'_All we got was his name?'_ Sasuke thought. _'What a waste.'_ Sasuke sighed waiting for someone to take the initiative.

Sasuke didn't have to wait long as Mikomi raised her hand and exclaimed, "Ooh me first!"

"Okay, Blondie, you first." The man now known as Kakashi said.

"My name is Uzumaki Mikomi," she said excitedly, "I like ramen and my friends and Iruka-sensei and Old man Hokage. I hate the three minutes you have to wait for the water to boil and people who are mean for no reason." Mikomi frowned lightly at the last statement and took a moment before continuing, "My hobbies are trying to eat every kind of ramen out there and making up new techniques. My goal is to become Hokage."

Mikomi finished with a bright grin tugging on her hitai-ite. "Oh I forgot one thing…" she giggled. "I like Lee-kun too," she said blushing slightly. Sasuke rolled his eyes as Sakura giggled.

_'So…'_ Kakashi thought. _'She's got lofty goals.'_ He glanced at her again, _'Though she did react quickly and apparently from a deep slumber when I entered the room.'_ Kakashi thought, _'She also seems to be ambidextrous.'_ He noted that as he glanced at the kunai pouches she had on both of her thighs, _'She also seems to like those pads…'_ he thought as he looked over her padding with the metal plates. _'Altogether not a bad ninja, her grades were decent.'_ he continued to think in his own internal monologue. _'Though that demon sealed in her…'_ Kakashi sighed lightly and looked at the other two students, waiting for one of the others to start.

"I guess I'll go next," said Sasuke, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have few likes, and many dislikes. I really don't have any hobbies but I do have a couple of goals." Mikomi and Sakura looked at Sasuke as Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "The resurrection of my clan," Sasuke continued, "and to kill a certain man." Sakura gasped slightly as Mikomi stared at him for a few seconds. He didn't really care; he just kept his cold exterior up and looked directly back at Kakashi ignoring the girls' reactions.

'_Hmm…'_ Kakashi thought, _'Revenge…'_ Kakashi sighed slightly looking back at Sasuke evenly. _'The famed Uchiha seeks revenge, and to resurrect his clan.'_ Kakashi thought shaking his head, _'Hopefully we can get that stupid revenge idea out of his head while he's still with us.'_ Kakashi glanced at the other two genin before returning his gaze back to Sasuke.

The silence was permeating until Sakura decided to speak up, "Well guess it's my turn," she said dispelling the uneasiness in the air. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like…" At that she glanced furtively at Sasuke and smiled dumbly a blush creeping to her cheeks, "Umm I dislike people who are mean and Ino. My hobbies are…" Again she glanced at Sasuke furtively the blush creeping up in her cheeks along with that stupid smile, "and my goal is to…" Another furtive glance at the Uchiha heir and Kakashi was almost sick.

Kakashi sighed as Sakura lost herself in her own fantasies, _'A decidedly normal ninja with two decidedly abnormal teammates.'_ he thought, _'do all the girls her age act like that.'_ Kakashi shook his head to dispel the thoughts.

Kakashi glanced between his new students and sighed again, "Alright." he began, "Tomorrow we will go to one of the training grounds for a final…test."

He almost chuckled when he saw the confusion written on his young charges' faces, even the Uchiha's eyes had widened slightly.

"Weren't we already tested at the academy," Sakura sputtered, "I mean we had to take those tests."

Kakashi smirked though the mask on his face hid it, "this is a different test, this will test how good a shinobi you'll be," he said lazily, "There is something else." All three genin looked at him curiously, _'Oh good that got their attention.'_ he thought snickering in his head, "something about this test you should know about.' Here Kakashi paused for dramatic effect as if gathering his thoughts; He almost lost it snickering when he saw their faces turn from confusion to harboring a little fear in them.

"There were 30 graduates," Kakashi continued, "but only 9 will become Genin. That's a 66 failure rate."

He chuckled as he saw their faces drop. "This is how we cull out the ones not ready to be Shinobi," he stated. "All of us instructors have to give our students a test to see if they pass or not, those who fail will get sent back to the academy for further training."

He noted all three genin were now frowning, "But…" Mikomi finally managed, "What was the point to the tests we took at the academy?" Kakashi chuckled, "Those were to test your basic skills, this one will assess whether you are ready to become ninja or not."

All three of his students frowned darkly and sighed in frustration. Kakashi was enjoying this, it was almost comical to watch the emotions shift from confusion, to anger and finally to resolution.

"Meet me at training ground 18 tomorrow at 6 in the morning," Kakashi said, "Oh… and don't eat breakfast."

"What! Why shouldn't we eat breakfast," Mikomi shouted at him.

"Oh." Kakashi replied, "That's simple; you'll puke it all up during this test." He almost fell over laughing when he saw all three genin pale slightly and gape like fish out of water. Even the Uchiha was paling badly though his gaping wasn't as noticeable thanks to his hands blocking sight of his mouth.

"Remember," Kakashi said, "6AM." Kakashi smirked one last time as he vanished in a cloud of white smoke.

It took the three genin a few moments to process it all and they all started to grumble at once, all except Sasuke who just stood and began to leave.

"You're leaving," asked Sakura looking at Sasuke's back. Sasuke merely shrugged and left the two girls there to their frowning and grumbling.

"Feh," Mikomi said, "Don't worry about it Sakura, we'll see him again tomorrow you know." Mikomi giggled slightly as she stood up, "I want to go see if Lee-kun is still training today, before I go home," Mikomi stated, "Want to come Sakura?"

"No that's alright," replied Sakura, "I have to help my folks anyways." Mikomi nodded and gave Sakura a big hug, "Don't worry, we'll get through this test," Mikomi assured Sakura, "I believe in us." Sakura smiled and returned the hug before both girls left the roof for their respective destinations.

Mikomi sighed as she wandered away from Lee's training grounds, 'H_e wasn't there.'_ she thought pouting, _'and I really wanted to see him again.'_ She sighed darkly as she let her feat lead her to anywhere they felt like going.

Mikomi finally ended up at Icharaku's sitting on a bench. "Oh," Teuchi sighed as he turned around, "Didn't even hear you come in, Miki-chan." Teuchi chuckled as Mikomi scowled at the nickname. "Hungry eh?" he asked as Mikomi looked up at him and nodded.

"A couple of miso's please," Mikomi said as she smiled at Teuchi, forgetting the jab at her name.

"Coming right up," he replied with a bubbling laugh and started to prepare her food.

It only took Mikomi a few minutes to finish her food and grin at Teuchi, "Thanks Teuchi-san," she said, "You always make the best ramen." Teuchi smiled kindly as she paid for her meal and watched her go home.

**The next morning**

Team seven convened at the preordained training grounds. Mikomi glanced at her teammates and noted they both looked dead tired, though Mikomi felt perfectly fine with her normal dazzling smile on her face.

Sakura looked at her first and glowered slightly, "You look fine," Sakura said, "Looks like you got some sleep."

Mikomi giggled as Sasuke glanced at her and quickly placed his usual "stoic" mask on. "I got to bed early," Mikomi said swinging her bag around her and squatting down to dig in to it. "There wasn't much for me to do after we left and I'm used to getting up early so I can see Lee-kun."

Sakura giggled slightly as Sasuke rolled his eyes and glanced around.

"It appears our sensei is, once again, late," Sasuke observed darkly. Mikomi nodded as she found what she was looking for in her pack, quickly retracting her hands she held out three apples.

"Here," she said as she tossed one to each of her teammates. "Figured we could use a snack, Kakashi sensei said no breakfast. He didn't say anything about snacks." Mikomi grinned mischievously as Sasuke looked at his apple carefully.

Mikomi quickly retied her pack and took a bite of her apple. "Don't worry it's not poisoned or anything." she said as she swallowed, noting Sasuke eyeing his apple suspiciously. Sasuke looked at her for a moment before taking a bite out of his.

"Where did you get these?" Sakura asked after she had taken a bite, "These are delicious."

"Oh." Mikomi said, "There's a new store near Icharaku's and they open early, so I popped in and grabbed us some apples." Mikomi shrugged nonchalantly as she took another bite of her apple.

"Oh," Sakura replied, "Foreigners?" Mikomi nodded as she took yet another bite of her apple.

It didn't take them long to finish their apples and toss the cores in to a nearby bush. "Wonder how late he's going to be today," Mikomi wondered out loud. The other two genin simply shrugged and sat down getting comfortable.

"I don't know," Sakura replied, "Hopefully not to awfully late, I promised my folks I'd help them at the shop this afternoon."

A couple of hours later the rising sun found the three genin still sitting there, Mikomi fast asleep curled up on the ground using her bag as a pillow. "Yo," Kakashi said as he appeared in a cloud of smoke, little orange book in his hand, in a tree.

The sound of his voice gave Mikomi a start, again. She sat bolt up right launching, yet another, kunai at her tardy sensei.

"What took you so long?" Sakura exclaimed in frustration, "Are you always going to be late?"

"Well you see there was this little old lady who was lost." Kakashi said, "So I helped her find her way home." Kakashi tossed Mikomi's Kunai back at her as he hopped out of his tree perch and stashed his book.

"R-R-Right…" the three, would-be-Genin, sighed in unison.

In all honestly Kakashi didn't really care if they believed him or not, he just made up these excuses as a game to see how many people would believe him. _'At least these students have the 'suspicion' idea down.'_ He thought, _'The last students I had believed me with ease. That group would have definitely gotten killed on a mission._' He sighed lightly again, remembering that group and shaking his head.

"Glad you all made it to the right place," he drawled, "now to start with the test explanation hmm?"

"Rules are simple," Kakashi said holding up two silver bells that jingled gently in his hands, "if you can get the bells from me you pass."

"But sensei," Sakura said, "there are only 2 bells that means someone won't get one."

'_Ahh… the usual objection.'_ Kakashi thought. "Correct Sakura," he said nonchalantly, "The one who can't get the bells will be sent back to the academy." Kakashi shrugged as he strode over to a set of 3 posts stuck in the ground.

"What!" his students exclaimed, "You mean one of us has to go back?"

Kakashi merely nodded as he set a clock on the center post, "And you have to do it before noon," he stated turning around. "This isn't like the exams in the academy; you have to come at me like you mean it." Kakashi said, "Come at me with the intent to kill and you might succeed in getting a bell." The three genin gaped at him as he reached out to hit the timer button on the clock, "When the alarm goes off return here, now go." He struck the button and all three genin vanished from sight. _'Ahh they know how to hide at least.'_ he thought glancing around.

He allowed his senses to extend out getting a fix on his students, though Mikomi was being rather difficult. _'Good chakra suppression.' _He thought barely noticing the girl moving. He noted Sasuke in a nearby tree to his left and Sakura was hiding under a clump of bushes to his right.

Kakashi turned around seeing Mikomi standing behind him ready to go, "Ahh you first eh?" he sighed pulling out his little book. "There are 3 skills a ninja uses. Lesson one: TaiJutsu, the art of hand to hand combat." He stood there with his free hand behind his back and reading his book, _'This shouldn't be too difficult, her TaiJutsu scores weren't that impressive.'_ he thought. "Well come at me then," he said as Mikomi charged at him. _'Direct I see…' _Kakashi thought,_ 'This should fun.'_

It only took a moment for Mikomi to make it to him launching a basic jab at his face; Kakashi easily blocked it with his free hand. A vicious sweep went for his legs which Kakashi easily dodged, his eye almost widened a bit as he noticed her other leg come around in a roundhouse kick aimed for his rib cage. Kakashi blocked with his leg and did a flip backwards to land on his feet looking bored.

"That all you got?" he asked glancing at Mikomi.

Mikomi smirked as she launched herself in to the air aiming a solid side kick for Kakashi's shoulder, Kakashi sidestepped that one almost missing the backhand she aimed for his cheek. Kakashi blocked with his book arm, using her momentum against her he redirected it to the left and launched her off to that side.

She grunted as she came crashing down to the ground sliding a few feet. "Damn…" she thought shaking her head.

"Never let your opponent get behind you," Kakashi said from behind her, "That's a bad thing." Kakashi's hands blurred in to a series of seals and he finished with the tiger seal, he went to shove his fingers in her behind when he noted she was no longer there, "Huh…" he said glancing around, "Where did she go?" He allowed his senses to expand again feeling her presence behind him.

"I agree sensei," Mikomi said as she blurred her hands in to a series of seals: boar, ram, and ox.

"Kaihou!" Mikomi shouted as Chakra forced its way out of her forearms and shins. Kakashi watched for a moment before he noticed something fall to the ground and Mikomi's smirk grow larger, "I was just seeing how strong you are sensei," she said as she allowed the weights she had on to fall to the ground dispelling her GenJutsu on them.

'_GenJutsu concealed weights.'_ Kakashi thought, _'Better be careful.'_

Kakashi quickly stashed his book as Mikomi charged at him moving at twice the speed. Kakashi blinked slightly as her fist shot out to his face, he quickly bent backwards to dodge the blow feeling the chakra piston graze his nose. _'Whoa.'_ He thought, _'She's fast.'_ He barely had enough time to dodge the sweep she aimed for his legs, he jumped in to the air with Mikomi hot on his heels, as she turned the sweep in to a jump and struck Kakashi where the chin meets the throat with an open palm heel strike.

The strike threw him further off balance as she jabbed her left knee in to his right kidney, utilizing the momentum she spun around him to plant both elbow points in to the small of his back. Another spin around him and she landed another knee strike to his left kidney, spinning herself around vertically she landed a solid heel kick to his head.

"Tora Renden!" she yelled as her combination attack finished. Kakashi streaked towards the ground landing with a loud thud.

Mikomi smirked as she saw him land hard and allowed herself a graceful landing. Her face fell quickly as she saw the dust clear.

"Substitution," she squeaked as she noted a rather beaten log lying where Kakashi had been. "Damn."

She barely heard the twang of a string as she flipped back dodging a snare. She frowned as she noticed the second snare streak from the ground and wrap around her ankle, flinging her upside down with a nasty jarring. "Oh damn," she cursed watching Kakashi saunter out of the underbrush.

"Well, well," Kakashi said stepping in front of her, "Impressive, but you have to learn to look underneath the underneath, to see the trap within the trap." Kakashi smirked at her thoroughly enjoying his lecture.

Mikomi could only dangle there upside down and glower at her sensei, "I know," she growled in frustration. "But I didn't have time to react to that one. Pretty good timing old man." Mikomi grinned as Kakashi chuckled.

"Well I'm not a Jounin for nothing you know…"

Suddenly several shuriken came streaking out of nowhere striking Kakashi in the side, forcing him to bounce off of a nearby tree. Sakura gaped as Mikomi smirked slightly. Mikomi noticed that the log that was used against her combo was gone.

"Got him!" Sasuke exclaimed before he noticed the puff of smoke and a log fall to the ground, "A substitution? Damn now he knows my position." Sasuke moved quickly jumping from branch to branch finding a new hiding place.

Sakura couldn't believe it, she could have sworn she saw Sasuke kill their sensei until the log appeared, _'Oh no Sasuke gave away his position with that attack.'_ She thought, _'I have to help him.'_ Sakura bounded towards Sasuke's position quickly.

Kakashi watched this all from a nearby safe spot and chuckled, "Mikomi has got some good moves," he thought rubbing his throat, "that attack hurt." He glanced around noting Sakura moving quickly, "now to find my other students." He chuckled moving off.

Sakura was moving quickly through the trees before she noticed Kakashi standing in a clearing, _'Oh no.'_ she thought stopping quickly and hiding. After a few moments of silence, she let out a small breath of relief, _'He didn't notice me.'_ She watched him for a few moments before she heard someone behind her.

"Lesson 2: GenJutsu, the art of using your chakra to create illusions that play on your senses, Sakura," Kakashi said as he squatted behind her flashing through a few seals. She gasped as she felt the GenJutsu take hold shaking her head she heard someone groaning her name.

"Sakura."

It was Sasuke.

"Sakura help me." Sakura jumped out of her tree to investigate. She took a couple of steps before she saw Sasuke crawl from behind a tree; he looked like a pin cushion with all the kunai sticking out of him. His blood was soaking the ground,

"Sasuke." she gasped as she stepped forward, "What happened?" Sasuke groaned again.

"Help me Sakura," he said before he collapsed in to a puddle of his own blood.

The tears came to Sakura's eyes as she fainted dead away.

Kakashi blinked. _'She should know this is a genjitsu, it's not that strong of one.'_ Kakashi thought watching Sakura pass out, _'Maybe I used too much.'_ He shrugged hopping off. _'One more to go.'_ he thought.

Mikomi was still hanging in the tree frowning as she glanced over to her right, "_oh ho_," she thought getting a smirk on her face, "_so that's what he meant 'looking_ _underneath the underneath._'" Mikomi grinned mischievously as she took out a kunai and cut herself down.

It took Kakashi a few minutes but he found his final student standing in a clearing. Kakashi watched him before Sasuke turned to look directly at him, _'Well at least he's obliging.'_ Kakashi thought as he stepped out. "Lesson 3: NinJutsu, the art of using your chakra to make devastating attacks." Kakashi said as he faced off with the Uchiha. Sasuke charged at Kakashi launching a punch at him, _'Won't be able to read my book for this one either.'_ Kakashi frowned blocking the punch. Sasuke came around with a cross kick which Kakashi caught and held with his other hand. To Kakashi's surprise Sasuke twisted his body to launch yet another punch at his face. This forced Kakashi to let go of his leg to grab the new attack, allowing Sasuke to launch another roundhouse kick at Kakashi's gut.

'_Enough.'_ Kakashi thought as he jumped back spinning Sasuke away from him. Sasuke used the momentum to turn himself around and flash through some hand seals. _'Tiger seal.'_ Kakashi thought, _'That's a fire jutsu. Genin aren't supposed to know fire jutsu.'_

"Fire element: grand fireball technique!" Sasuke yelled as he placed his right hand in front of his mouth and breathed out. A large fireball shot from his mouth burning the ground where Kakashi was mere moments ago.

Finally Sasuke released the fire jitsu and looked at the destruction he caused, "Did I get him?" Sasuke asked himself as he looked around for remains. Suddenly he felt something grab his legs and yank him down.

"Earth element: Earthen decapitation." Kakashi's voice rang out as he yanked Sasuke in to the ground up to his neck.

"That should take care of that," Kakashi said as he brushed off his hands, "Should take you till about noon to dig yourself out of that." Kakashi chuckled as Sasuke glowered at him. Kakashi chuckled as he withdrew his book and walked off, _'Better go check on Mikomi,'_ he thought, _'She's probably cut herself down by now.'_

A few minutes after Kakashi vanished in to the trees Sakura appeared from the woods.

"Sakura?" Sasuke asked as he looked at her.

"Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed passing out once again. Sasuke could only look at her dumbfounded.

Kakashi made it back to his snares only to find Mikomi gone, "Hmm…" he sighed, "Wonder where she got off too."

Sasuke had himself halfway dug out of his prison when he heard something. He froze looking towards the noise. Suddenly a blur flew out of the woods nearby and grabbed him underneath his arms. Sasuke growled as he was forced out of his hole, much to the chagrin of his badly scraped legs. A few seconds later he noticed Sakura on the opposite side as him. He looked down only to see that someone with blond hair was carrying them both.

A few minutes later he noted that his ride had stopped and set him and Sakura on some spongy moss near a dead tree.

"Sakura," Mikomi breathed catching her breath, "Wake up." Sakura slowly woke up glancing around, she noticed Sasuke was alright and latched herself on to him like some sort of leech.

"Oh Sasuke," she sobbed, "I saw you dead…then I saw your head talking to me…and…and…"

Sasuke tried to pry her off but she was strong for such a small woman,

"Everything's ok Sakura," said Mikomi patting Sakura's shoulder, "Everyone's fine."

"Mikomi?" Sakura asked as she looked up finally releasing Sasuke, who was looking rather disheveled, "we're ok?"

Mikomi nodded as she smiled at her, "Here. I got us something," Mikomi said pulling a couple of boxes from a nearby hole in the tree trunk, "It's food, I think we need to eat or we'll never be able to defeat Kakashi sensei."

"Huh?" Sakura asked, "Where'd you get that?"

Mikomi then grinned impishly, "Oh," she said, "While I was hanging in the tree I noticed these sitting on the monument behind those logs in the ground. I figured we needed to replenish our strength and go after Kakashi together."

"But sensei said we wouldn't be able to eat till after the test," Sakura said staring at the boxes.

Mikomi only sighed, "No he said we could eat lunch after we finished the test," Mikomi said, "This just means we get two lunches."

Mikomi giggled seeing comprehension dawn on Sakura's face. "We should hurry," Mikomi said getting serious, "I don't know how long it will take sensei to find us, and we still have to get those bells."

Sasuke nodded as he reached for a box, "But there's only 2 boxes," Sakura said her stomach growling.

"No worries," Mikomi said, "I'll share mine with you."

Sakura smiled warmly, "Thanks." she said.

"No." Sasuke said, halting the two of them. "WE split them. Evenly."

The girls looked at him oddly for a moment before nodding.

After they finished their brunch they began to make plans for taking down Kakashi.

"I still say I am better off on my own," Sasuke said frowning.

"Bah." Mikomi chided, "The only way we're getting those bells is working as a team, and you and I both almost got one."

Sasuke nodded keeping a look out, "We should hurry then," he said. Mikomi nodded as Sakura frowned.

"But there are only 2 bells," she whined, "only 2 of us get to go on."

Sasuke glanced back at the two girls.

"It's ok," Mikomi said putting on a fake smile, which Sasuke could easily see through. "You two can have the bells; I can become a full genin next year."

"Are you sure Mikomi?" Sakura asked, "You're the one working so hard for us."

"Yeah," Mikomi replied, "I'm sure."

It only took a few moments to finalize the plan and the three genin set off.

Kakashi was standing in a clearing waiting for them, _'They have to find me to get the bells,'_ he thought. _'No sense in wasting my energy looking for them. They've only got a few minutes left anyways.'_ Kakashi chuckled lightly as he continued to allow his senses to sweep the area.

Suddenly several kunai flew out of the trees straight at him, he easily dodged them all, glancing towards the attack direction.

"Ah-ha," he said under his breath. "Here they are." He chuckled as he felt something slam in to his back and grab on to him,

"Your gonna lose those bells sensei," Mikomi yelled as she appeared in front of him landing a punch on his face. White smoke enveloped Kakashi as Mikomi hit another Mikomi.

The struck shadow clone vanished in a puff of smoke as 4 others advanced on Kakashi's hiding spot.

'_Oh,'_ he thought, _'Now she's serious.'_ He smirked until he felt something heavy land on his shoulders; at the same time 2 more kunai flew at him forcing him to jump out of the tree attempting to maintain his balance with the Mikomi on his back.

Finally some shuriken appeared out of nowhere and flew by, he dodged those too, but it was close. Suddenly the weight on his shoulders was lifted as the clone vanished and a blur ran underneath him.

'_What the?'_ he thought as he landed gracefully, _'What was that?'_

Kakashi chuckled as he felt his genin retreat in to the underbrush. "Well that was a waste," he said as he reached towards the bells, finding them gone.

"What?" he exclaimed as he looked down noting the strings the bells were hanging from, cleanly cut.

Kakashi thought about it for a moment then chuckled again.

"They got me; they actually got me," he said, "First they used the original kunai attack to distract me long enough for the clone to jump on me. They expected a substitution with that one and made me think they had fallen for it again. They had a clone waiting for me in the tree I'd use to hide." At that thought he chuckled again, "That clone jumped on my back as more kunai came at me," he continued.

"That forced me to jump out of the tree, the clone on my back making balancing difficult. The final shuriken barrage was made to look like it was aimed for me, but it was actually aimed at the bells. That is what severed the bells from the string. Lastly Mikomi ran out from her hiding spot to catch the bells and bolt away, teammates hot on her trail." Kakashi laughed this time, _'Good team work.'_ he thought, _'the kunai attacks were courtesy of Sakura, clones and catching by Mikomi, lastly the shuriken was from Sasuke.'_ Kakashi shook his head as he headed for the posts, knowing the timer would go off soon.

Three tired looking genin came walking out of the forest as the timer went off, though they had smirks on their faces.

Kakashi chuckled, _'Even Sasuke is smirking about it.'_ he thought.

"Well done team seven," Kakashi said as they approached, "who has the bells?" He nodded as he noted Sakura and Sasuke reveal their bells while Mikomi stood there with a rather resolute look on her face.

"I see," Kakashi said as he guided Mikomi to the middle post and tied her to it, "it appears we have our genin." They all nodded as Sakura and Sasuke sat down next to Mikomi. "And it looks like another year in the academy for you Mikomi," Kakashi stated. "Since you didn't have a bell, I'm sorry, but you know I have to obey the rules."

Mikomi merely nodded her head and looked at the ground; it was obvious she didn't want to go back. It was also obvious she had sacrificed herself for the good of her team, Kakashi was proud of her though he couldn't show that just yet.

After a few minutes of awkward silence Kakashi spoke again, "alright you two, congratulations on becoming genin today," he stated, "I'll take that." Kakashi reached out and tried to take Mikomi's hitai-ite, but before he could take it, his arm was clenched in an iron hard grip curtsey of a scowling Sasuke.

"Give it back." Sasuke said coolly, "She deserves to be a ninja."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he looked at Sasuke, "Oh really?" he asked.

Sasuke nodded, "She's the one that got us working together and she got us food to regain our strength." Sasuke said, "Without her I don't think we would have passed."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Besides this exercise is based on teamwork right?" Sasuke continued, "And we worked as a team. I won't leave a teammate behind."

"Yeah," Sakura finally piped in finding her voice, "you can't do this it's not right!"

Kakashi allowed his face to cloud in rage, "Are you questioning me!" he bellowed as his hands flashed through a long series of seals and black evil looking clouds began to form over him.

"Insubordination is intolerable," Kakashi continued his charade, "I should kill you all here. If you're willing to fail the mission then you don't deserve to be ninja!"

All three genin paled for a moment seeing the display of power and feeling the anger roll off of their sensei.

"I will **not** allow her sacrifices to go in vain," Sasuke said standing up and moving in front of Mikomi, kunai drawn, "we worked damn good as a team and I see no point in loosing that."

"Yeah," Sakura chimed in also moving in front of Mikomi and drawing her own kunai. "This isn't right and you know it!"

"Oh?" Kakashi growled.

Sakura nodded, "The three of us are one," she said, "If you try to hurt one of us you have to deal with all of us!" Sasuke merely nodded his head keeping the same calculating caution he was so good at.

"Hmm," Kakashi said, "Well then I only have one thing to do then." The three genin swallowed but stood their ground, "You pass," Kakashi said smiling at them as the clouds dissipated, "Congratulations!"

(Cue massive sweat drop)

Kakashi chuckled lightly as he saw the three gape at him, "This exercise is based on team work." he started, "We use 2 bells to create a rift in between you all."

"But why?" Mikomi asked.

"Because we need to see if one of you is willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of the team and mission," Kakashi stated.

The genin nodded blankly.

"Then there is the second part of this exercise, seeing if you would stand up and help a teammate. We are in cells of three man teams for a reason; the missions go smoother and easier as teams." Kakashi took a breath and continued, "With a team there is a better chance of survival and completion." He glanced at all the genin and sighed noting their blank looks.

Kakashi turned around as Sasuke cut Mikomi down, "Do you see this stone here?" Kakashi asked indicating a small obelisk of obsidian behind him, "This stone has the names of the heroes of our village carved on it."

"Oh," Mikomi said, "I want my name on that!"

Kakashi only shook his head, "This stone has the names of those who were K.I.A." Kakashi sighed seeming lost in thought for a moment.

"Ermm," Mikomi said looking confused, "I was never really good at acronyms."

"Killed in Action," Sakura supplied looked sad, "The names are of those killed in action."

Mikomi swallowed and looked down sadly, "Oh." was all she could manage through her thick throat.

"Yes," Kakashi continued, "This stone has the names of every ninja who was killed in action for our village."

The genin nodded slightly, "Ninja who fail a mission are trash," Kakashi stated, "Ninja who leave a comrade behind are even worse trash and don't deserve to have their name carved in this stone."

Kakashi turned to look at his genin, "Do you understand?"

They all nodded

"Is the fourth's name on it?" Mikomi asked.

"Yes," Kakashi said nodding and turning around, "Along with the names of my friends." Kakashi sighed tracing a couple of names with his finger, "You won't find his name though," Kakashi finished, "you'll only find 'Yondaime' carved in it for him."

Kakashi sighed as he noticed Mikomi walk up to the stone, "I wonder if my parents' names are on it…" she said as she began to look at all the names. Kakashi also noticed Sasuke walk up and find his family as well.

A few minutes passed in silence before Mikomi sighed and her eyes fell to the ground, "Not a single Uzumaki," she breathed the tears welling in her eyes, "Do I even belong to this village?"

Kakashi looked at her sympathetically seeing her force back the tears, seeing the confusion and pain in her eyes. It was almost a bottomless pit in her eyes; the usual clear eyes were dark and abysmal.

She sniffed gently continuing to force back the tears; she had promised not to cry about this anymore. But it was there, she knew the pain the uncertainty, it was a constant companion no matter how many friends she made.

Kakashi saw this all play in those cerulean orbs, the normal vibrance consumed by the darkness she fought against every day.

It pained Kakashi to see her like that; it was almost like looking in to a mirror. He had felt the same things when it came to his father.

The silence lasted a while as everyone let Mikomi's situation sink in.

Finally Kakashi broke the silence, "Of course you do," Kakashi said as he stepped behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, "You have the hitai-ite to prove you are a kunoichi of the leaf. Always remember that, Mikomi."

Mikomi took a shuddering breath and looked at Kakashi a sad smile on her face, her eyes gleaming with barely suppressed tears, "Thanks" she whispered.

Kakashi smiled and raised his hand to pat her head gently.

Everyone stepped away from the stone and back to the logs in the ground, "Alright," Kakashi said, "Take these forms and fill them out."

He produced 3 forms from his pouch and handed it to each of his genin, "these forms will become your registration cards." Kakashi smiled at them, "I'm proud of you three," he said, "take tomorrow off and take care of the registration."

All three genin nodded as Kakashi vanished in a puff of white smoke.

Sasuke watched the girls walk away together, his eyes resting on the back of Mikomi. He saw something in her eyes, something he recognized and something he always had hanging over him. Maybe, just maybe, he had found a kindred spirit in this world, someone who knew exactly what it was he was going through.

'_Perhaps this team isn't so bad after all.' _He thought as he started to walk away, of course, he wasn't going to let that show.

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A/N: Long one I know. But hey I was hoping to get to a certain point and I was suddenly inspired to write more, hehe. Now for some terms I used in the story:

Kaihou: Release (as in emancipate, or liberation)

Tora Renden: Tiger Combo

Now I would like to once again thank my betas and Riiiceballe! Now remember folks…review, review, review, no such thing as a waste of a review (unless it's a flame). Please send me reviews telling me what you liked, what you disliked, and maybe just that you liked it. But anyways, until next chapter, thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 6

Uzumaki Mikomi

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and so forth.

A/N: Well, I would like to apologize for the extreme length of wait for this fanfic of mine. Many things happened that delayed its release. Once again I would like to thank my BETAs and my Readers for their support and help in writing this story. Starting with this chapter go by what I state the chapter number is, not the one on the website, mainly because I received a few reviews on the notice and I would like to keep them. Now without further ado the BETAd and finished _Uzumaki Mikomi: Chapter 5_

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Chapter 5

The sun was bright as ever on the nicest day Mikomi could remember. She was happy, almost giddy, about her new life. She couldn't help but grin brightly at anyone who made eye contact with her as she skipped down the streets of Konoha.

'_A few more blocks and I'll be at the academy.'_ she thought as she turned a corner. _'I can't wait to show Iruka-sensei my registration card.'_

She smiled at the thought of Iruka smiling at her and saying how proud he was, it made her feet seem to move faster as she continued her way down the streets.

After a few moments she glanced up to notice the top of the academy coming in to view and she practically ran the rest of the way there.

'_Almost there…'_ she thought as she stopped skipping and began to run.

As she neared the academy she noticed Iruka and Kakashi standing outside speaking to each other. Iruka looked like he was being chided about something so she decided to quickly hide behind the tree with the swing and listen in.

"I knew Sasuke had some good TaiJutsu scores Iruka," she heard Kakashi's lazy voice on the winds as she hid behind the tree. "but Mikomi's prowess never made it in to the grades."

"I'm sorry Kakashi-san." she heard Iruka reply; "She must've not tried her best during the exams."

Mikomi glanced out from behind her tree to see Iruka scratching the back of his head embarrassedly.

"So it seems…" Kakashi said after a short pause. "I would recommend doing a better job of ensuring that they do their best in the future. That girl's got a punch that'll knock out an ox if she isn't careful. She nearly broke my jaw."

Mikomi giggled lightly at Kakashi's praise and tucked her head a little further behind the tree to listen more.

"She's that strong?" Iruka asked as Kakashi leveled an even look at him.

"No, she's not that strong, I'd be dead if she was." Kakashi replied, "But she's got the chakra control to piston out a nice bit of chakra. Have you ever been hit in the face with a jackhammer?"

Iruka shook his head a little confused. Kakashi sighed a bit, "You know how a jackhammer works right?"

Iruka nodded.

"Then you know that the body just moves the blade in and out with enough force to break concrete." Kakashi continued. "That's what she does with her chakra; she shoves a shaft of it out of her body at the point of contact."

Iruka nodded again and asked, "So it's like the Jyuken style?"

Kakashi nodded slightly. "Yes and no. Instead of closing tenketsu points her technique just crushes anything in the way," Kakashi finished as Iruka nodded, understanding dawning on his face.

"I getcha." Iruka said as he glanced over to the tree, "I also get the feeling that we're being watched." he said as Kakashi nodded and turned around.

Mikomi squeaked a little hearing the two men talk about her presence.

"Damn," she swore, and after she regained her composure, said "Best show myself then." She quickly stepped around the tree beaming at the two men,

"Hi." she called to them as she waved shyly, both men chuckled as she came from behind the tree and waved back.

"Yo." Kakashi called to her as she walked up.

"I just wanted to come by and show Iruka my registration form," Mikomi said tucking a stray hair behind her ear and looking around sheepishly for being caught eavesdropping, "Sorry to get ya in trouble Iruka-sensei."

Iruka chuckled as Kakashi looked at her blankly.

"I'm not in trouble Mikomi-chan." Iruka said patting her shoulder. "Kakashi was just telling me how your final exam went."

Mikomi nodded slight looking at Kakashi for a few seconds; "Oh…" she said as she produced the registration form and showed Iruka.

Iruka smiled at her and patted her head, "I'm proud of you Mikomi." he said smiling at her genuinely, "Very proud."

Mikomi beamed up at him and finally jumped up to embrace the teacher that was like a father to her. "Thanks." she said as she squeezed him.

Kakashi chuckled lightly and stepped back a moment to give the two some room.

"Well I should probably head out." he said. "I have a mission to get to."

Iruka nodded as Mikomi looked at Kakashi.

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei," Mikomi said, "I'll see you tomorrow." Kakashi chuckled lightly nodding to her before he vanished in a cloud of white smoke.

After a few moments of the hugging, Iruka let Mikomi down so she could stand.

"How come you didn't say anything about the final test Iruka-sensei?" she asked him looking in to his eyes like she was hurt because he kept something so important from her. Iruka felt slightly bad for not telling her and took a moment before he spoke.

"Well," he said, "we're not supposed to… The final test is given to everyone before they can become a new genin."

She looked at him seeming not satisfied with his explanation.

Iruka sighed and continued, "We all had to go through some final test to become genin, and each jounin has their own test they do. Kakashi's test is, and has always been the hardest one; you're the first team he's ever passed."

Mikomi blinked at the revelation, "Really?"

Iruka smiled and nodded, "Really really. You guys did well," Iruka said as she began to beam brightly. "But don't let that go to your head." he continued sternly. "'Cause that's just the beginning, it only gets harder from here on out."

Mikomi frowned a moment before nodding slowly, "You got it I'll try real hard not to disappoint you," she said softly.

"I could never be too disappointed in you Mikomi," Iruka said again patting her head.

She smiled up at him and nodded again.

"Now," Iruka said, "you should probably hurry to the Hokage tower or you're going to be late."

Mikomi blinked and looked up at the sun, and swore violently as she spun around and began to run, "bye Iruka-sensei!" She waved behind her and was gone.

Iruka chuckled lightly. "Make us proud of you Mikomi." he said as he turned to go back in to the academy.

It only took her a few minutes to get to the Hokage tower. She stopped in the doorway catching her breath and collapsing in to the door jam.

"Made it." she thought as her breath came in ragged gasps at the exertion. She sat there huffing and puffing as the sun warmed her back more than was comfortable.

'_It's hot.'_ she thought as she wiped some sweat from her brow taking off her forehead protector and leaning her head on the cool surface of the wall. She sat there allowing time to pass as she caught her breath. Finally she pushed herself off the wall and stuffed her forehead protector in to the pouch she had around her hip before entering the building.

As Mikomi approached the door it opened for her.

She blinked and stepped out of the way as the door grazed by her knee. Sakura stepped out of the doorway and almost bumped in to Mikomi.

"Oh." Sakura said surprised, "Hi Mikomi."

Mikomi smiled, "Hey Sakura." she said stepping in to embrace her best friend, "You're done registering already?"

Sakura giggled and nodded as she returned Mikomi's embrace, "Yup, I saw Sasuke-kun in there too but he was a little behind me in the line."

Mikomi released her friend and nodded. "Oh." she said as she peered in to the building to see if Sasuke was coming down the corridor.

"He's still in there?" she asked looking back at Sakura. "How far back was he?"

Sakura only shrugged lightly, "don't know," she said as she glanced back inside as well. The door closed silently as Sakura and Mikomi stared down the halls of the Hokage's tower.

The girls sighed and engaged in a bit of gossip ending with Mikomi telling Sakura about her eavesdropping on Kakashi and Iruka, the two of them couldn't help but laugh.

The door opened once again to release a rather bored looking Sasuke from the tower.

"Hi Sasuke," Mikomi said as he stepped in front of them. "Finished registering?"

Sasuke gave her an even look, making sure to keep it as bored as possible and nodded. "Yeah," He said simply.

Both girls looked at him for a second. "I see…" Mikomi said breaking the silence, "I wanted to ask you two, something."

Sasuke looked at Mikomi keeping his even, rather bored look on his face and Sakura raised an eyebrow.

Mikomi shifted slightly feeling uncomfortable under their gazes for a moment. "Well…" she started glancing back between the two them. "I was just wondering if you two would like to join me at Dimchii's after I'm done registering." Mikomi looked them both in the eye getting a bit bolder now that it was out. "To get to know each other, you know." she finished.

"Of course I would." Sakura said with a smile, "I haven't been there yet, I hear it's good."

Mikomi grinned in relief as Sakura accepted the invitation then looked as Sasuke. Sasuke looked at both girls and simply shrugged his shoulders noncommittally, but didn't leave.

Mikomi took that as an affirmative and smiled at him, "Thanks." she said. "I still have to register I hope you guys don't mind waiting."

Both her teammates just shrugged and walked over to sit on a nearby bench. Mikomi beamed at them and waved as she opened the door.

"Be back in a jiffy." she called over her shoulder as she vanished in to the building.

It only took her a few moments and a bit of dodging and weaving to make it to the interview room.

The Hokage sat in his chair behind the table near the far wall, a single stool set up in front of him. She smiled at the Hokage sheepishly as she strode over to the stool and sat down getting comfortable.

"Hi Hokage-ojisan" she said with a smile as she set the registration card on his desk, "How've you been?"

"Oh…" the Hokage chuckled, "I've been doing just fine Mikomi-chan, and I see you're in a good mood today."

Mikomi nodded. "Yup." she said, "I'm a real ninja now and my teammates said they'd join me at Dimchii's."

Mikomi beamed at the old man who couldn't help but smile warmly.

"Good for you, Mikomi." he said, "It should only be a few more minutes to get everything ready so you can leave."

"Okay." she said as she glanced around the large room, "This room seems so empty." she said glancing at the Hokage.

"Hmm?" the Hokage said as he looked up from her registration card, "Yes there are usually more people in here, but we clear it out for the registration of new genin."

Mikomi nodded taking another glance around the room before setting her eyes on the Hokage, "Everything in order?" she asked.

"Oh yes…" the Hokage replied, "Everything is perfect. Nice picture by the way."

He chuckled as she blushed brightly.

"Thanks." she said.

"Okay Mikomi you can go. Don't want to keep your friends waiting." the Hokage said adding her registration card to the stack of cards next to him. Mikomi grinned at the Hokage before jumping up and giving him a hug.

"Thanks." she said in his ear as he patted her back.

As Mikomi reached the door she heard a dull thud as the other door in the room was thrown open.

She spun around to see a child charge in releasing several suriken at the Hokage.

Mikomi reacted by instinct.

Her hand shot in to her own suriken pouch on her thigh, coming back out with a snap, sending several of her own suriken speeding through the air to take down the original attack.

With a clanging of steel on steel the kid's suriken were knocked out of the air. The Hokage was watching silently.

Moving by instinct again, putting herself between the child and the Hokage, and blocking access to the Hokage.

The child stared up at Mikomi before saying anything.

"You got in the way!" he shouted.

"Of course I did." Mikomi spat back. "What do you think you're doing kid?" Mikomi moved quickly towards the kid putting her kunai up.

"Why are you trying to hurt grandpa Hokage!?!" she shouted right back at him as she brought her fist down on the kids head, hard.

The kid gasped in pain as he fell to the ground.

The Hokage just shook his head with a slight chuckle.

"Mikomi." the Hokage said, lighting his pipe. "Do you realize who you just hit?"

Mikomi looked at the Hokage a moment before shaking her head.

"That's my grandson, Konohamaru." the Hokage replied with a chuckle. "He's always trying to ambush me like that."

Mikomi blinked a moment as a tall man in all black with sunglasses ran in.

"Young master?!" the man exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

Konohamaru just laid on the ground rubbing his head quietly as the man locked his eyes on Mikomi. His eyes became hard behind his glasses as he saw Mikomi standing right next to Konohamaru.

"Young master!?!" the man exclaimed. "Get away from that monst….ermm…girl." the man cleared his throat and pushed the sunglasses up on his nose.

Mikomi's eyes snapped to the man.

"I already know the truth, no need to hide it from me anymore." She spat. "At least I know how many people hate me."

Mikomi turned around and headed for the door everything about her body language screaming pain.

The Hokage looked at the man and shook his head.

"Ebisu." He said, "Take my grandson, and leave."

"But sir…," Stammered Ebisu.

"Leave. No Questions," the Hokage replied harshly.

Ebisu nodded his head dumbly before turning to shoo Konohamaru out of the room. The Hokage looked at the door as Ebisu and Konohamaru left and sighed shaking his head,

"I'm sorry Mikomi…" He sighed. "Truly, I am sorry."

Mikomi walked out of the door leading outside a few moments later, her temper slightly abated at Ebisu's slip of the tongue.

Sakura looked at Mikomi curiously as Sasuke glanced up from his spot leaning against the trunk of a tree.

"Something wrong Mikomi?" Sakura asked as she walked up to Mikomi looking worried.

"Nothing," Replied Mikomi quickly, "Just fine."

"Umm…okay." Sakura frowned as she went to touch Mikomi on the shoulder. Mikomi moved out of her reach hugging herself a little bit. Sasuke stayed under the tree and watched quietly.

"You guys go ahead without me." Mikomi said after a moment of silence. "I'll catch up ok?"

Sakura frowned looking at Mikomi, "Okay, sure, Mikomi." she asked as Mikomi nodded in response. Sasuke merely grunted lightly and stood from the tree to head towards the restaurant.

Mikomi wandered off, she didn't seem to notice the look of concern Sakura shot her one last time.

Sakura finally sighed lightly and turned to follow Sasuke. Sasuke watched Mikomi walk off quietly as he turned to walk to the restaurant.

He noticed she was heading for the training ground and her pace was becoming faster the closer she got to them. Sakura looked at Sasuke with a sad look on her face and sighed before she turned to follow Mikomi.

"You coming?" she asked as she began moving in the same direction Mikomi was walking. Sasuke merely shrugged but started to follow Sakura as they made their way towards Mikomi quietly.

It only took Mikomi a few minutes to make it to the training grounds with how fast she was walking, not noticing she was being followed. Unfortunately, for those following her, her usual route made them loose track of her position rather quickly. After a moment of breathing she began to pummel the post, slowly at first.

She started with a simple jab, listening to the wood thunk solidly. A second jab from her other hand followed by a quick snap kick.

She continued through the basic attacks slowly at first as her mind wandered down the darkened halls of her memory and the emotions began to seep out.

Her movements became faster, her attacks more wild as she pummeled the wooden post.

Her mind flashed through various memories.

She remembered the looks, much like the one Ebisu had given her earlier. Those eyes had been a mainstay of her young life; she remembered those eyes preceding various comments or actions.

All of which, were very unpleasant.

Her breathing came harder as she worked at the post but she didn't care. Sweat glistened on her forehead and ran in to her eyes, which only served to make her emotions more volatile. She kept at the post, hearing the post creak and crack in protest.

She remembered back to the first birthday she could remember.

_Flashback_

_It had been her eighth birthday and she was happy to be celebrating it. She had wondered why everyone seemed so somber during the day but she only figured she didn't know anyone so they didn't know how special the day was. She walked about town smiling at everyone even though they seemed to not notice her or pretended too not notice. _

_It had only taken her a few minutes to find someone who was particularly sad on the day and decide to cheer the woman up and smiled up at the lady. _

"_Hi." she had said as the woman looked down at her. _

"_Who are you ma'am?" _

_The woman looked down at Mikomi idly before speaking softly. "Ariel." the woman had said, "Why are you so happy today, little one?" _

"_It's my birthday," Mikomi had replied beaming at the woman.., _

"_I get ta have cake, ya want some Miss Ariel?" _

_Ariel only stared at Mikomi, seeming to think hard before a look of horror stretched across her face "You…you're," Ariel stuttered, "Your birthday?! You're… you're the mons…" _

_Ariel had stopped there shaking before she picked up some nearby pebbles and began throwing them at Mikomi crying hysterically. "Get away from me you brat, get away… get away!" _

_Mikomi ran away as fast as her little legs could carry her that day, crying and wondering what she had done wrong. _

_End Flashback_

It was like that every year, people glaring at her, saying things about her behind her back.

The sound of splintering and cracking brought Mikomi out of her reverie; she looked at the log watching her fists and feat move faster than she had ever remembered with her weights on.

Mikomi's hands and legs hurt but she didn't care, all she could do was remember what the villagers had done to her.

Her tears mingled with the sweat that poured off of her face and stung her eyes. The pain she felt was a small reminder of the pain she had been in for years. She had felt confused at first, never knowing why the villagers treated her the way they did.

She was always lonely, and she never knew why.

Finally she only felt the hatred from the villagers; she would have left years ago, had it not been for the Hokage, and then Iruka.

She had hated living in a village that hated her for no apparent reason.

The Hokage had always been there to give his support to her, to offer his shoulder for her when she was little.

Then Iruka took the job.

Those two were the most important people in the village to her; it was for them that she stayed and had sworn to protect the village. After some time she managed to make friends like Sakura, Hinata, and Kiba. Now she had someone she really cared about in Lee, they are why she stayed in the village, now. She couldn't explain the feelings at first, but the Hokage had told her about the feelings 'love' he had said. She stayed for her loved ones.

Unfortunately, her loved ones were few and they couldn't stop the feelings that invaded her mind right now.

The log gave a creak and crack of protest as her fist slammed in to it again, the chakra piston crushing more of the fiber that held the log together.

Her foot came up next taking the log hard.

The log groaned in protest and slumped slightly, her kick caving in part of the wood. She increased her pace slamming hand and foot in to the log. She poured all the resentment, the loneliness, the anger, and hatred she had harbored over the years in to her flurry of blows.

She shot a fist in to the log's "head" bending it backwards slightly as the wood there gave way to splinters and a dent.

Her furry built up momentum as she poured all those emotions in to the poor post. Her foot slammed in to its side causing it to lean.

Her fist met the middle of the log crushing yet another weak point.

Finally she felt the exhaustion take her body, her swings coming slower and her breath harsh and ragged.

She could feel her arms grow heavy.

Her legs weren't far behind her arms as they grew sluggish soon afterwards.

She wasn't done yet, though, she still had all those emotions running through her veins. She could feel the burning in her heart that often marked a breaking point. Her emotions threatening to overwhelm her dragging her down to the pits of the hell she had been living.

She spun around once adding the momentum to her final blow.

She thrust both fists in to the log as hard as she could, and she screamed.

The scream seemed torn from the very fabric of her being.

She poured all of the pent up emotions: the rage, the anger, resentment, loneliness, frustration, hatred, everything that had been festering for years. She poured all of it in to this last blow, the chakra piston forcing itself in to the weakened post.

Orange chakra gathered around her for a moment, joining her normal chakra in the thrust as she heard a demonic chuckle in the back of her mind. She hit that post so hard she felt the bones crack from the force of the blow.

She didn't care; the fox would heal her quickly.

Everything seemed to stand still for a mere instant as the red chakra joined hers.

The post, due to the structural weaknesses she had inflicted upon it, broke free of its foundation. Splintering and cracking as it was violently launched through trees, disintegrating as it took to the air. Breaking into three pieces, two of which slammed into others trees causing those trees to come crashing down. The final piece, its "head", flew several yards into the forest before hitting the ground and rolling away. It rolled up a nearby tree trunk and rolled back down. It rocked back and forth for a few moments before coming to rest, looking as if it was looking at Mikomi sadly.

Kakashi stood in a tree with his sharingan uncovered.

He had heard the scream and rushed towards the training ground.

He sighed as he saw Mikomi finish the post and shook his head, "I'm sorry, Mikomi." He said to himself. "I wish I had known."

Kakashi lowered his hitai-ite slowly and glanced about noting several ANBU moving in Mikomi's direction. It only took him a minute to intercept them and tell them everything was alright.

Kakashi wasn't the only one to hear her scream; the entire village had heard it echo around. Women looked up pulling their children close. Men glanced about stopping whatever they were doing for a moment trying to figure out what the sound was, and children stopped their playing to look at the buildings as if the buildings had issued the scream to scare them.

The Hokage looked out his window suddenly appearing very old to his aid and shook his head. He removed the pipe from his mouth looking out the window sadly.

"I'm sorry Mikomi, I really am," he breathed before finally returning to his aid and putting the pipe back in his mouth.

The aid looked at him concerned for a moment until he indicated the aid should continue.

After the post's untimely demise Mikomi sighed and stumbled back to a nearby tree. She slumped against the tree completely spent and slid down to a sitting position.

She drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

She sobbed before resting her head on her knees and letting the final emotion, sadness, come out to consume her.

Sakura frowned seeing Mikomi sitting there all alone. It was the Loneliest Sakura had ever seen the usually outgoing and happy girl, it hurt to watch.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke who seemed to be distant though he had a look that suggested he was thinking about something.

"We should go to her." Sakura said, "She's our teammate."

Sasuke glanced at Sakura as if just remembering she was there and nodded his head.

"Hn." was all that came out of his mouth, as usual.

Sakura glared at him but proceeded in to the clearing with Sasuke close behind her.

"Mikomi," Sakura asked as she got closer to Mikomi, "You ok?"

Mikomi jumped slightly and looked up noticing the presence of her teammates.

"Uh, what," Mikomi said as she sniffed and wiped her cheeks dry, "I'm fine." Mikomi plastered on her fake smile as her eyes continued to brim with the tears.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing, moving to stand next to her, he leaned his back on the tree trunk she was sitting against and began to glance around the area as if he was keeping an eye out.

Mikomi looked at Sasuke a moment before Sakura said something. Mikomi then looked back to Sakura blankly.

Sakura sighed, "Are you ok Mikomi?" Sakura asked looking at Mikomi's hands, "Those look bad."

Mikomi blinked and looked at her hands a moment before shrugging.

"They'll be fine again in a few minutes." Mikomi replied. Sakura frowned, but let it go. Sakura looked down at her own hands, which were clasped between her thighs and sighed. The silence that followed felt like a heavy fog; it lingered for a few minutes as Mikomi's breathing became less ragged.

Finally, to everyone's surprise, Sasuke broke the silence.

"I believe." he said softly, "That we were planning on going to Dimchii's." Sasuke didn't look at either girl as he stood erect and took a step forward.

"Yeah," Sakura piped in, "We were, let's go Mikomi."

Mikomi grunted slightly as Sakura pulled her to a standing position and put an arm around her.

"Let's go." she said. Mikomi nodded a couple of times before Sakura began helping her towards the road gently. Sasuke followed them like some silent sentinel.

Kakashi smiled as he noticed his genin trooping in to town. _'Well seems I have a good team after all.'_ He thought.

He watched Sakura helping Mikomi along as Sasuke played guard and nodded. "Yes it does indeed." he said aloud.

He watched them for a few moments noticing the small boy hot on their heels. He chuckled shaking his head. _'Konohamaru,'_ he thought, _'Now what are you up to, following my genin around?' _

Kakashi shrugged before setting off for the Hokage's office to file the report about his recent mission.

He stopped a moment to take another look at his genin as they rounded a corner heading towards Dimchii's. _'Have to try that place one day.'_ He thought as he bound towards the Hokage's tower.

Team 7 rounded the corner and continued to walk on; Mikomi's strides were getting stronger with each step. Sakura glanced at Sasuke who seemed off in his own little world for the time being as his eyes swept the area they were walking through. Mikomi finally began to walk on her own, her hands already healed from their injury.

Finally Dimchii's came in to view and Mikomi stomach immediately growled loudly. Sakura giggled lightly letting Mikomi go.

"Guess I'm hungry." Mikomi said with a silly grin on her face, "That work out was great." Sasuke glanced at Mikomi a moment before looking ahead. Sakura just sighed.

"We're almost there Mikomi," she said as they approached the restaurant. There wasn't a line at the restaurant because it was mid afternoon.

"Oh good." said Mikomi, "No line today." Mikomi grinned increasing her pace slightly.

It took them a few moments to get to the front desk as Dimchii smiled at them.

"Welcome." Dimchii said, "Oh, it's you Mikomi-chan, how are you today?"

Mikomi smiled at Dimchii, "Doing good now." she said, "Got a table available?"

"Only for my favorite kunoichi," Dimchii replied grabbing three menus; "follow me."

The genin fell in to step behind the portly proprietor and they quietly made their way through the restaurant to some seats near a window.

"Here you go." Dimchii said indicating the seats, "Just order whenever you're ready. I will to be your waiter today."

"Really," Mikomi asked.

"Yes, one of our waiters is sick today so I'm filling in." Dimchii replied, pulling out Mikomi's chair and indicating Sasuke should be polite and pull out Sakura's chair. Sasuke looked at Dimchii's disapproving scowl at such poor manners, sighed and quietly slipped behind Sakura's seat pulling it out for Sakura with a nod.

Sakura smiled warmly. "Thank you." she said as Mikomi thanked Dimchii for his politeness as well.

"Whenever you're ready," Dimchii said as he began to walk away. "Just flag me down." The three genin nodded as the portly man walked towards the front desk.

Sakura opened her menu slowly as she watched Dimchii take his place behind the front desk.

"He seems like a nice guy," Sakura said perusing the items on the menu.

"Oh," Mikomi replied, "he's very nice, though we had a bit of a misunderstanding first time I came here with Lee-kun."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the mention of Lee and looked at Mikomi a moment. Mikomi opened her menu and began reading the menu items quietly. Sasuke grunted lightly before turning his eyes to his menu and opening it.

"That's right." Sakura said, "You and Lee had your first date here."

Mikomi blushed lightly and nodded shyly, "We did." she said.

Sakura giggled as Sasuke, once again, looked at Mikomi, saying and doing nothing.

Sakura's eyes bugged out a few times noting the prices of the items. "It's all so expensive." Sakura said.

Even Sasuke's eyes seemed to bug slightly too, though his hair was in the way and it was hard to determine if they had or not.

Mikomi giggled lightly. "Don't worry." she said, "I get a discount, and I'm paying remember?" Sakura looked at Mikomi blankly as Sasuke glanced up a moment. "Go ahead and order what you want," Mikomi continued. Sakura and Sasuke nodded a moment with Sasuke giving a non committal grunt and looked through the menus again.

It only took them a few minutes to decide what they wanted. Once everyone was ready Mikomi waved Dimchii over.

"Ahh," Dimchii said, "Have you decided?" The genin nodded and gave him their orders.

"Oh, Mikomi-chan," Dimchii said before turning to leave again, "I'm going to retire here in the next few months; so my son will be taking over for me."

Mikomi nodded sadly, "Aww." She sighed, "What are you going to do after you retire." She asked.

"Actually I'm going to do some volunteer work at the Orphanage." Dimchii replied, "After I heard what had happened to you there I simply had to make it better for the children of the future."

Mikomi winced at the reminder of her childhood but Dimchii merely smiled and patted her shoulder gently, "don't worry no child will ever have go through that ever again," he said.

Mikomi smiled up at him and nodded, "That's good to know, Dimchii-san, though I wish you weren't." she said as Dimchii smiled at her and walked back to the kitchens to turn in their orders.

The three genin sat in silence a moment before Mikomi decided to break the ice.

"So, Sasuke." she said as he looked over at her, "How are you today?" Mikomi smiled at Sasuke.

"Fine." he replied quietly before turning to stare out the window.

Mikomi frowned lightly obviously expecting more of an answer. Sakura glanced at Mikomi then Sasuke raising an eyebrow.

"Come on, Sasuke," Mikomi said, "There's gotta be more to you than that. We're supposed to be a team, and how can we be a team if we don't know anything about you?" Sasuke looked at Mikomi again with a slight shrug.

"I know Sakura pretty well." Mikomi continued, "I mean we're best friends. But you, you're one of those dark brooding types and that's so last year."

Sasuke again turned to look at Mikomi as he smirked slightly.

"Good." He replied, "That's what I was going for." It took a moment for Sasuke to register he had actually spoken and smirked at Mikomi and he blinked.

Mikomi grinned, "Finally getting somewhere." She said, "So you like the dark brooding thing huh?"

Sakura giggled lightly seeing Sasuke actually taken aback by his own actions.

Sasuke regained control and grunted at her turning to stare out the window yet again. Mikomi giggled and turned to Sakura.

"Oh Sakura," She said, "Did I tell ya about what Lee-kun got me the other day?" Sakura looked at Mikomi curiously,

"No, you haven't," she replied. "Oh he got me the most precious thing," Mikomi giggled girlishly; "He got me this cute little fuzzy panther doll."

"Oh, you have got to show me soon." Sakura giggled. Mikomi beamed and nodded as she turned to look towards the kitchen.

Dimchii walked up with the trays of food. He smiled as he set the plates of food on the table.

"Oh, Dimchii-san," Mikomi said as he finished setting their food down, "Have you met my teammates?"

Dimchii looked at her teammates a moment before shaking his head, "Sadly I don't believe I've had the pleasure" he replied.

"Okay then." Mikomi said, "This is Haruno Sakura and tall dark and moody over here is Uchiha Sasuke," she indicating each of them in turn. "Sakura, Sasuke this is Dimchii-san." She continued, "Proprietor of this fine establishment."

"A pleasure to meet you both," Dimchii replied, "I'm glad you've been assigned a team with Mikomi-chan. She's such a sweet girl." Dimchii smiled at them as he patted Mikomi on the head.

Mikomi blushed lightly.

Dimchii nodded, "I did have the pleasure of knowing your parents Sasuke." he said, "They were good folks, I'm sorry for your loss."

Sasuke looked at Dimchii quietly and nodded his appreciation for the sentiment.

"I was glad to hear you joined the Academy," Dimchii continued, "And even gladder to know you have Mikomi-chan on your team. She'll be good friend."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow and glanced between Mikomi and Dimchii as Mikomi's cheeks got redder from the praise and she shifted uncomfortably. Sasuke smirked again noting her discomfort and nodded to Dimchii.

Dimchii chuckled and smiled, "You'll never become Hokage if you can't handle a little public praise Mikomi-chan." he said with a smile, "So get used to it. I have a feeling you'll end up proving yourself to the entire village in the future."

Mikomi smiled sheepishly, "Thanks…," she said as Dimchii chuckled again and walked back to his desk.

The meal started in relatively comfortable silence with everyone peering at their food in appreciation before digging in.

"So you want to be Hokage," Sasuke asked, once again surprising his two tablemates, "Do you really think you have a chance at that?" Mikomi looked at Sasuke for a moment gauging his sincerity. After a few moments scrutiny she figured he was being genuinely sincere.

"I think anyone has a chance to be Hokage," she said, "If they work hard enough for it."

Sasuke nodded as he took a bite of his food, seeming to think about that. Sakura just cocked her head curiously.

"You think anything's possible with enough hard work." Sakura observed. Mikomi nodded as she took a sip of her drink.

"Of course." she said after she swallowed. Sakura nodded thinking on that observation for a moment.

"Why do you ask," Mikomi asked turning to look at Sasuke.

"Hmm," Sasuke replied looking at her, seeming to be pulled out of some deep thought, "I ask because I am curious."

Sakura looked at Mikomi a slight twinge of jealousy streaking across her emotions before being firmly squelched. Mikomi looked at Sakura apologetically. Sasuke looked at Sakura before sighing,

"Look Sakura." He said, "I was curious, that's it. Besides at least she doesn't follow me around and be all..." Sasuke stopped there a moment seeming to mull over his words, "Well…fan-girl-like" he finally finished.

Sakura just stared at Sasuke blankly for a bit as Mikomi took sudden interest in her food.

It took Sakura a few moments to get her mouth working again as she stared at her food forlornly,

"Sorry." she said before taking to her food again.

Sasuke looked at Sakura and sighed lightly nodding his head,

"Just remember." He said, "I don't like being followed around and fawned over." Sakura nodded taking another bite of her food.

Dimchii wandered over again with a smile on his face, "How are your meals?" He asked looking at the three genin and breaking the newly formed ice.

"Oh I like mine, Dimchii-san." Mikomi said glancing at her teammates.

Sakura smiled, "It's delicious," she said.

Sasuke grunted but nodded his approval, "I can see why my parents liked it here."

"Good, good." Dimchii said as he smiled at them, "Will there be anything else you need?"

The genin shook their heads.

Dimchii grinned and nodded moving away with a polite bow.

"Anyways…" Mikomi started, trying to get conversation going again, "What do you think of Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura looked up glad to have the subject change to something else.

"Oh…" Sakura said, "Well he seems…ok, but a bit strict." Sasuke grunted his agreement at her observation.

"Yeah," Mikomi said between bites, "But he seems nice enough, maybe a little overbearing." Sakura giggled lightly and nodded as Sasuke watched the girls speak.

The girls continued to banter back and forth as Sasuke watched. Much to the girls' surprise Sasuke added to the conversation occasionally. When their dinner was finished they all sat back with satisfied looks on their faces.

Dimchii shuffled over again, "Done?" he asked as they all nodded their heads, "Would anyone care for dessert or is this all for you today?"

Mikomi looked at her teammates who shook their heads when she looked at them.

"Guess that's it Dimchii-san." she said, "Thank you for such a good meal." Dimchii nodded as he began clearing the table and placed the bill in front of Mikomi.

After Dimchii had walked away, Mikomi picked up the bill and grinned as she showed it to her teammates.

"See...?" She said, "Discount."

Sasuke looked at the bill and blinked, one of the few times he was caught off guard.

Sakura mimicked Sasuke by coincidence.

"Now, "Mikomi continued, "Don't let this get around, only Lee-kun and I get the _'preferred customer'_ discount okay?"

Sakura and Sasuke nodded small smirks creeping to their faces.

Mikomi giggled and got up, followed closely by her two teammates and walked over to pay for their food.

A few minutes and ryou later they found themselves on the street outside Dimchii's.

"We start missions tomorrow." Sasuke said to the girls as they sauntered down the street, "I'm going home to get some training in and go to bed."

"Okay." the girls said in unison happy to at least have Sasuke speaking to them, "We'll see you tomorrow then."

Sasuke nodded and started towards his home as the girls waved at him.

"I have to help my folks out today," Sakura said as Sasuke was leaving, "I gotta go too."

Mikomi nodded and smiled giving her friend a hug, "Okay, Sakura," she said, "Remember what Sasuke said. Who knows, maybe he'll lighten up if you do."

Sakura nodded and smiled, "I know" she replied, "Anyways I gotta go, later Mikomi."

"Bye," Mikomi said as Sakura sped towards her house. Mikomi started to walk to her home enjoying the nice cool breeze now blowing through Konoha.

Mikomi walked down the street knowing full well Konohamaru was following her, though every time she turned around he hid. She giggled lightly and shook her head noticing his feet showing underneath one of the disguises he was using and turned to walk further. Occasionally she'd glance back to see Konohamaru using various bad disguises and giggle, but he didn't notice.

Finally she got tired of it after about 5 blocks of glancing back to see a poorly disguised Konohamaru.

She stopped and turned fully around this time noting he had a disguise on sideways and sighed. "That's really bad you know." she said looking right at Konohamaru, "It's pretty obvious; you're wearing it sideways for Kami's sake."

Konohamaru lowered his disguise and looked at her curiously before stepping out in front of her.

"What do you want?" she asked him, "You've followed us since we left the training grounds, and now you're following me!"

Konohamaru blinked oblivious to the fact she knew, "I want to know where you get that power from," he shouted after a moment, "So I can defeat Hokage-ojisan."

Mikomi sighed, "Sorry kid, this power is mine alone." she replied and sighed again. "Consider it a 'blood line limit' if you want."

Konohamaru frowned and looked at her a moment appraisingly.

"Why do you want to defeat Hokage-ojisan, anyways?" Mikomi asked, "He's not all that old."

Konohamaru sighed and looked at her a moment, "I want to be Hokage." he said.

Mikomi cut in; "It sounds like you've got a lot to say, come on, I'll walk you home."

Konohamaru nodded and started ahead as Mikomi fell in beside him.

"Well…" Mikomi prompted after a couple of minutes of an uncomfortable silence. "Go on… Keep talking."

"Why do you care?" Konohamaru asked, "You wanted to kill me earlier today!"

"Well…" Mikomi replied, "I figure you've a good reason to try kid, considering he is your grandfather and all. So, I've decided to give you the benefit of the doubt and find out the reason behind it."

Konohamaru sighed and said, "He's my grandpa, as you know. He's the one who gave me my name, Konohamaru. He named me after the village."

Mikomi nodded as they rounded a corner.

"I've been named after the village." he continued, "but I still live in HIS shadow. I'm always 'honored grandson' or 'the Hokage's grandson.' I just want to be known for who I am."

Mikomi nodded again and patted his head lightly.

"So I want to defeat him," Konohamaru continued, "and become Hokage so I can be recognized for me."

Mikomi giggled lightly at that, garnering a glower from Konohamaru.

"I understand," she said after she was done, "I want to be Hokage."

Konohamaru looked up at Mikomi.

"Then we're rivals," he said.

Mikomi nodded smiling down at the boy. "But I'm going get that title first." she said, "I'm going to earn it, and it's a lot of work."

Konohamaru cocked his head to the side curiously.

"I finally have a few people who recognize me for who I am…" Mikomi continued, "And that was a lot of hard work. There is no easy way to get recognition or respect; it must be earned through hard work."

Mikomi fell silent thinking about the few friends she's made over the last year or two and smiled wistfully.

They walked on in silence while Konohamaru digested the piece of advice and Mikomi remembered.

"Assassinating ojisan won't get me the title?" Konohamaru asked.

"Nope, but it might land you in prison." Mikomi replied with a smile. "It takes a lot of hard work to be recognized. You think you can handle working that hard, kid? For years on end, never ever letting up, even for a minute."

Konohamaru looked at her incredulously, "Of course I can handle it," he said standing up straight.

"Well good." She replied through a foxy smile. "Maybe one day we'll be able to fight for the title."

Konohamaru looked at her and grinned, "Yeah, but I'm gunna win." he said.

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself," Mikomi stated with a giggle, "you still got a lot to learn and you have to go to the academy first. I'm going to be a kunoichi starting tomorrow so I've got a head start."

Mikomi giggled again as she ruffled Konohamaru's hair. Konohamaru grumbled at her and fixed his hair, though when he looked back at her he had a grin plastered on his face. They both laughed at each other and walked on further enjoying the silence and cool breeze.

"Well," Konohamaru said, "this is my house." Konohamaru indicated a large mansion nestled gently in some trees.

"Nice place you got here, Konohamaru." she said smiling at him, "must get kind of lonely there though."

Konohamaru shook his head and laughed. "Nah." he said, "I got Ebisu-sensei and ojisan comes to visit me sometimes."

Mikomi looked at Konohamaru as he smiled at her obviously catching the fact she called him by name and the recognition that simple gesture meant.

"Well at least you've got someone." she said, "Even if he is a jerk."

Konohamaru laughed lightly and nodded his head, "He may be a jerk, but he's a good teacher," he said, "but still…a jerk."

Mikomi smirked and nodded, once again ruffling his hair.

"It's getting late, you best get inside." Mikomi said as she turned around to head to her own apartment building.

Konohamaru started towards the door before he stopped halfway and turned around.

"Mikomi-nichan," he said as she turned around, "thanks."

Mikomi smiled, warmth flooding her heart, and waved back to him. "Anytime." she replied, "I live right over there." Mikomi pointed to her apartment building, "Apartment 8," she said, "I you ever need to talk, you just drop on by, okay?"

Konohamaru grinned adorably and nodded, "You got it." he called back to her before he bounded to his door and went inside.

'_Good kid.'_ Mikomi thought as she turned to walk home.

The Hokage chuckled as he leaned back in his chair puffing on his pipe. He moved his hands over a large crystal ball as the image of Mikomi faded from view and smiled happily. _'The path of the shinobi is a long and hard one, Mikomi.'_ he mused, _'And it's only just beginning for you.'_

The Hokage stood up and stretched his back before pacing to his window that looked out over Konoha. He reached up to remove his pipe from his mouth, one hand behind his back, and breathed out a puff of smoke looking out over Konoha as it was bathed in the sunset. "It has only just begun." he said out loud with a smile before placing his pipe back in his mouth and walking towards his door.

He had a grandson and, to him anyways, a granddaughter to visit.

He stepped out of the door leading to his office a noticeable spring in his step.

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BETA's note:

We would like to express our most sincere apologies to the readers of this fan fiction; it is our fault that this chapter is so long in coming.

A/N: Yes MY BETA's had a bit of a hard time this last month but they got this to me as they promised. Please send them a PM saying "thanks". Also to update you all I am back in school, once again so I can't guarantee when the next chapter will be out. I am planning on starting the next chapter this weekend though so fear not I won't forget you. I have a very good idea where I want to go with this and don't be surprised if it begins to deviate from the canon and manga more.

Also I would like to inform you all that I will start posting the status of the next chapter on my profile page from now on. So if you want an update just check my profile out and it should be at the bottom. Once again thank you and of course, review!


	6. Chapter 7

Uzumaki Mikomi

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A/N: I now release this updated version, fully Beta'd, and ready for your reading enjoyment.

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Chapter 6

The sun was just peaking over the horizon as Mikomi's eyes snapped open.

She sat bolt upright in bed and, she hated waking up like this, but the nightmares were intense.

She slowly looked around her room; everything was as it was supposed to be. Her breathing slowed to normal as her heart returned to a manageable rate.

"Oh," she said shaking her head, "I hate those dreams."

She looked to her stomach, running a hand over the seal, as the memory of the dream came flooding back

_She was hidden behind a tree, the sounds of the battle echoing through the woods all around them. _

_She could see various shinobi and kunoichi battling all around her, though what, she couldn't see._

_And though she was certain that no one could see or hurt her behind this tree, she had to move, and after ensuring that no one was paying attention to her, she left the relative safety of her tree. She jumped from tree to tree, or bush to bush._

_She had no idea what was going on around her, but there was something in the back of her mind that told her that she had to be somewhere, and she was going to get there come hell or high water._

_Feelings of anxiety and the sense of urgency flooded her mind._

_It took her a few moments to reach her position, not that she knew how, but now she felt like she could relax for a few moments. _

_She looked around her, at the two people who had followed her, she didn't actually know them, but she knew that they were her teammates._

_Suddenly there was a flash of light._

_It was the signal to move out._

_She and her team leaped into the fray with surgical precision, performing jitsu that she didn't even know, and yet seemed familiar as breathing, as a huge fox loomed in front of her._

_She didn't think that the fox actually intended to do any damage to the village but she also knew that it was her job to attack it._

_The jitsu that she had launched had taken hold the fox and was supposed to blind it, but was easily broken by the sheer size of the beast. Forgoing the use of her massive library of jitsu, she threw her kunai, knowing that they were as or even less effective as the jitsu. _

_The fox turned its head toward herself and her team, and with a quick swipe of one of its tails, killed her team._

_They were gone without a second thought._

_Fear surged through her body, flooding it with adrenaline as she fled._

_The great fox followed with a speed that she hadn't expected from an animal of that size._

_It was gaining, she tried to run faster, but the great beast opened its maw..._

That was always where she woke up, and always in a cold sweat.

She sat in her bed shivering as the cold sweat poured from her body.

She knew that fox, and she knew him well.

It was obviously the Kyuubi.

Mikomi sighed and flopped onto her back, cursing the Kyuubi.

"**What?**" She heard a familiar voice. "**Don't like the few memories I lent you?"**

Mikomi swore as the Kyuubi's laughter echoed in her mind.

"Damn fox." She swore again. "Just shut up."

The Kyuubi's laughter echoed through her mind a few moments longer before cutting off all together.

She jumped as her alarm went off.

Grumbling, she crawled out of bed, shut off the alarm; her spirits became better, today marked the day that she would begin missions as valuable kunoichi of Kohona.

It took her less than an hour to get ready, giggling the whole time. Now that she was ready to go she dashed out of her apartment and down the street toward the meeting spot.

She slowed from her all out run to a fast, excited walk when she saw the bridge. Sasuke was already there, but Sakura had yet to show. Mikomi didn't mind though, she was, after all, half an hour early.

Sasuke looked at her and grunted as she walked up smiling and giving him a wave,

"Hi Sasuke," Mikomi said "How are you?"

"Fine," he replied in his usual monotone.

Mikomi smiled wryly shaking her head as Sasuke stared at the other side of the bridge.

He had his hands stuffed in his pockets and leaned against the railing looking 'cool' as most other people would call it.

Mikomi, on the other hand, thought it was boring and fished out her breakfast. A couple of apples out of her pack polished them on her shirt. She sat down next to Sasuke and bit into one, offering the other to him.

He glanced at her through the corner of his eye, grunted his thanks and he took the apple.

A few minutes went by in relative but comfortable silence as they ate their apples and stared at the water flowing beneath the bridge.

Mikomi looked over at Sasuke, thinking.

'_He is definitely cute.'_ She thought, allowing a small blush to grace her cheeks, '_But nowhere near my Lee-kun.'_

Just the mere thought of comparing Lee to Sasuke sent Mikomi into a fit of giggles, it was just too funny to bear silently; Lee doing his impression of Gai-sensei and Sasuke just leaning against a wall, brooding.

Sasuke looked over at her, raising an eyebrow at the giggling girl, sending her into more giggles.

"Sorry, Sasuke-kun," Mikomi, gasped and blushed at the same time. "I was just thinking about something that Lee-kun said last time we saw each other."

Sasuke just grunted and turned his attention to staring at the other side of the bridge.

Time passed slowly, the both of them now staring at the water running beneath the bridge, when Sakura arrived, only fifteen minutes early compared to the thirty plus minutes of Mikomi and Sasuke.

She started when she saw her other teammates there before her.

"Wow." she said, drooping a little, she had wanted to be first. "You guys got here early."

Mikomi ignored the comment as she smiled up at her friend.

"Mornin' Sakura, how are you?"

"I'm good, Mikomi, morning to you too Sasuke." Sakura replied flashing the young man a polite and non-fanatic smile.

"Mornin'" Sasuke grunted in return never taking his eyes away from the water.

Mikomi rolled her eyes and smiled at Sakura holding out the last apple that she had brought that morning, which Sakura took gratefully.

And with that bit of conversation, the team elapsed into silence. A silence only broken by the crunching of Sakura eating her apple, all three of them now staring at the water.

It didn't take long for Sakura to finish her apple and toss it as far as she could into the forest near the bridge.

When Sakura finally finished her apple, and had thrown the core into the forest, she looked over at Mikomi.

"So..." she said. "How did it go with that kid?"

"Oh, Konohamaru," Mikomi replied with a small giggle. "It went alright, he's a good kid, he's just a bit impatient to prove himself..."

She trailed off and shrugged, as Sasuke and Sakura looked at her incredulously, it was the most Sasuke had moved in the past hour.

"Konohamaru," Sakura asked, "You mean the Hokage's grandson?"

Mikomi nodded, "Yeah, that's him. You know him?"

Her other two teammates looked at her, their mouths agape, nodding at her; Sasuke mentally cursing her uncanny ability to bring out his emotions.

Mikomi shrugged again as silence once again settled and, in her boredom, took out a kunai, twirling it in the air.

The time for the meeting came and went, and Kakashi hadn't shown up.

It was an hour later when he did show up.

"Yo." he said, waving one hand, his visible eye squinted in what they assumed was a smile.

Mikomi's hand blurred toward Kakashi, and without blinking, Kakashi's hand came up and caught nothing.

He blinked in astonishment, looking between his empty hand and his student. He had never been tricked like this by any of his subordinates.

"You're late sensei." Mikomi said, smirking and still twirling the kunai around one finger. "Not to mention, I tricked you."

Mikomi and Sakura erupted into a fit of giggles while Sasuke just rolled his eyes.

Kakashi wasn't mad, in fact he was amused; she had learned something that couldn't be taught, using past perceptions to deceive her opponent.

"I guess you did." he said, chuckling lightly. "As to why I was late, you see there was this little old lady..."

He didn't get the time to finish before Sakura loudly accused him of lying with Mikomi backing her up.

Kakashi sighed, he had been found out again, his hand absent-mindedly placing his ever-present orange book in its protective casing.

"We have a mission to do." He said seriously. "Come."

The genin stood up, and followed him to the Hokage's tower, it was a short walk and within moments, they were walking past the ANBU that guarded the entrance to the tower; Mikomi trying very hard to ignore the looks that these guards were giving her.

They found themselves at the end of a line of other teams waiting to receive their missions for the day. The girls were gossiping and giggling about something to one side while Kakashi had his nose, once again, buried in his book.

Sasuke watched them, wondering how he was going to deal with them being on his team.

'_I hope they don't hold me back,'_ He thought, then looking to his sensei. _ 'And I hope that he doesn't plan on reading that during our missions_'

Sasuke was suddenly jolted out of his thoughts when Mikomi put her hand on his shoulder; he realized that she had been speaking to him.

"Hmm?" he said, trying to remain detached.

"Sasuke," Mikomi pouted. "You weren't listening were you?"

Sasuke just stared at her, not moving or blinking.

"I was asking you what you thought our first mission would be." Mikomi said exasperated.

Sasuke stared at her for a further moment, before turning away and saying, "Does it matter? We'll have to do it either way."

Having said that, he moved to stand next to Kakashi, thinking; '_At least he doesn't talk._'

Mikomi watched Sasuke walk away and sighed.

It was a little under an hour later when it was their turn to be called into the room where the missions were assigned; Mikomi immediately recognized it as the Genin registration room. Team Seven looked about, even within the room; there were still lines, various people behind tables and even more people in lines in front of those tables.

Kakashi didn't seem too worried about the lines; he walked right past all the lines and people, right up to the Hokage, who had been sitting at the back of the room, behind an elaborate desk with two more ANBU behind him on either side.

"Yo." Kakashi greeted, ignoring ever sense of protocol that a shinobi _should_ follow.

The Hokage looked up from the scrolls he was reading and smiled.

"Is it already time for your first mission Kakashi-san?" The old man chucked, putting his seal on the scrolls and handing them to one of the ANBU.

"It is Hokage-sama," Replied Kakashi, being respectful for once.

But before the Hokage could answer him, Mikomi couldn't stand it anymore.

"Oji-san!" she called out, waving, grinning.

"Hello Mikomi-chan." he said indulgently. "How have you been?"

"Doin' good," Mikomi said with a smile.

"Good. Good." he said, lacing his fingers together and setting his hands on his deck. "Now, on to business"

"Sir," Kakashi replied keeping his eyes on the Hokage and his book in its pouch.

"Is you team ready for your first mission?"

And before the ex-ANBU could answer, his team did for him.

"Yes sir!" the three of them said in unison.

The old man smiled at the three of them, he knew that they were ready; it was however a formality and a liability issue. If he hadn't had asked that, and the team was either injured or killed, the family could ask for compensation, and that usually meant six plus figures.

He shuffled through the various piles of papers and scrolls on his desk. Several moments passed as papers went flying and numerous scrolls fell off the desk.

"Ahh," He said, finding the scroll he wanted. "Here you go."

All three Genin nodded their heads eagerly and watched him peer over a scroll with "D" written all over it.

After several minute the Hokage nodded, and watched their reactions to the scroll.

"It seems one of our elderly women has broken her hip and needs some help." he said, pulling out a smaller scroll. "Kakashi, you and your team will complete this mission."

He handed Kakashi the smaller scroll.

Kakashi nodded and looked over the address provided.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," he replied.

All three genin looked at the Hokage then Kakashi blankly.

"This isn't a mission!" Mikomi shouted, "It's a joke."

The Hokage looked her over and chuckled.

"No, my dear Mikomi-chan, this is a mission." he said. "It's what's called a D-rank mission, very little threat."

Mikomi frowned as Sasuke scowled at his leader.

Kakashi looked them over.

"Hnn." he sighed, "D-Rank Missions are for new Genin and injured Chuunin and Jounin, There are designed for the Shinobi or Kunoichi to learn or just earn money without the threat of a C, B, A or even S-Rank missions."

Kakashi looked over his Genin seeing their disbelief.

"Look… we wouldn't want you to get hurt, there are a lot of dangerous people out there we might come across, so we assign you D-rank missions at first to train you and to continue your education," Kakashi stated. "And besides this is how the village keeps money coming it, it's a job that needs to be done."

The Genin grumbled and nodded, Mikomi pouted a little bit.

"I just don't want to be taken so lightly," she mumbled.

The Hokage couldn't help but laugh.

"We're not taking you lightly. You're still young, new to the ninja way of life. Your safety is paramount and we can't send you on to a bigger mission without knowing you can handle it." He sighed and leaned back, "It's a safety measure so we can keep our ninja safe until they are ready. Look at Kakashi; he had to go on D-rank missions when he started out."

The Genin looked at Kakashi who simply nodded his head.

"I did" he said matter-of-factly. "And I'm glad I did. There were things out there I wouldn't have been able to face."

Finally the Genin relented and nodded as Kakashi chuckled at them and the Hokage smiled.

"Now go and finish this mission quickly," the Hokage said as Team 7 headed for the door.

It took them a little while to get to the address, and that was with Mikomi stopping by the local sweet shop for a snack. They walked up to the door as Kakashi verified the address and knocked on the door.

After a few seconds a young boy, couldn't be more than 6 opened the door and looked at them,

"Hello." the boy said looking at them, "Grandma's sick, come back later."

Mikomi smiled at the boy.

"Hello young man," she said. "We're here to help your grandma actually."

The boy nodded and shouted back into the house, "Grandma, some people are here with those forehead thingies".

"Oh," they heard an older woman reply, "send them in Hiro."

The boy, Hiro, smiled at them and invited them in to the house.

The small group was led in to a rather nice living room where an older woman was sitting looking out a window.

"Thank goodness you're here." she said turning and smiling at the group.

"You have a nice house, Ma'am," Kakashi said as he looked around, "very nice."

The older woman chuckled.

"Thank you dear." she said, "Hiro can you go get our guests some tea while I tell them what needs to be done?"

Hiro nodded and ran in to the kitchen where tea was apparently waiting.

"Luckily there isn't a whole lot to do." said the old woman, adjusting herself in her seat so that she could look at the group, "Just a bit of housecleaning and some yard work."

Team Seven nodded as Hiro brought the tea.

"Now sit down a moment and rest a little bit before you get started young ones." said the old woman as she took her tea.

Mikomi glanced around the living room as she took a drink of her tea, her eye found a picture and some trinkets that she liked so she stood up to walk over and look at them.

"Oh, who's this handsome couple?" she asked pointing a picture on a side table. "Wow, he's cute." Mikomi giggled lightly as she looked at the picture some more.

The old lady glanced over and chuckled sadly.

"That's my late husband and me on our honeymoon." she said, "and yes he was a very handsome man."

Mikomi blushed.

"Oh…I'm sorry," she said.

"It's alright dear," the old woman smiled.

The old woman chatted with the other three as Mikomi looked over the pictures; there were a lot of the lady and her husband, and a few with kids and grandkids.

She smiled, looking at the pictures, wondering what that would have been like to have grandparents to visit.

Mikomi sighed a bit and moved away from the pictures to look at the figurines on a nearby bookcase.

She noticed a dolphin figurine and a few large cats.

She could help but picking up a few of the cats, and the figure behind the cats caused her blood to run cold.

There was the Kyuubi looking at her.

It almost seemed to stare at her with contempt and amusement. Its nine tails stretched out above its body in glossy relief.

She stepped back quickly, and almost tripped over Hiro.

Mikomi yelped as she felt her feet go out from under her, and instinctively flipped to regain her balance, and looked at Hiro.

"I'm sorry Hiro," she said as she knelt down to help the boy up, "Really."

Kakashi and the rest of the team turned and stared at Mikomi oddly as she helped Hiro to his feet.

"What's with her?" Sakura asked Kakashi who just shook his head.

"It's nothing," Kakashi told Sakura as he moved over to the shelf and put the figurines back in place, effectively hiding the Kyuubi figurine in the back. "Nothing at all, right Mikomi?"

Kakashi smiled at her as Mikomi looked at him blankly for a minute, just now noticing the others staring at her.

"Yeah it's nothing," she said giggling a little bit and scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "I just wasn't paying attention that's all. Sasuke shrugged then returned to his tea finishing it off quickly as Sakura frowned a moment and did the same.

The old woman watched Mikomi help Hiro and sighed.

"Well…" Kakashi said after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. "We have a mission to do, come on team." Kakashi walked towards the back door as Hiro helped the old woman out, the Genin following them. Mikomi's jaw dropped when she saw the condition of the yard.

"It's a disaster area." she gasped.

"Aye," Kakashi said, "It is."

Mikomi sighed with a pout as Sakura just looked over the conditions and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry." Hiro said. "Since grandma's injury I haven't been able to get a lot of the chores done."

The young boy bowed apologetically to the group.

Mikomi sighed and straightened up.

"It's ok Hiro." she said putting on a small smile. "We can get this done in no time."

Mikomi giggled lightly as Sakura shot her a look, Sasuke stuck to his usual indifference and Kakashi chuckled. Hiro helped the old woman to a chair on the porch and went back in to the house.

"_Kage Bushin No Jitsu_," Mikomi shouted as she formed the seal, making about 5 more of herself.

"Alright everyone let's get this done!" She shouted to herself.

All the Mikomis cheered and instantly went to work on the weeds, and moving some firewood into the house.

The old woman sat in her chair and laughed, watching Mikomi go to town on the yard.

Kakashi sighed and jumped on to the roof to start repairing the shingles.

"Sasuke help me here, Sakura help Mikomi." he called from the roof.

"Hai!" the two of them shouted, following their orders.

Mikomi grinned as her clones began to pile the weeds nearby, the yard was getting done quickly and they had only been there for a few minutes.

Sakura tried to keep up with the clones but opted to let the clones know what were weeds and what weren't.

"No not that one," she said as one of the clones grabbed a flower.

The clone looked at Sakura, nodded, and moved on to the next patch of weed choked earth.

Sakura heaved out a sigh as the real Mikomi walked up to her grinning.

"Sorry," Mikomi said, "I've never been one for green thumbs or anything."

Sakura giggled lightly.

"It's alright, that's what I'm here for right?" she asked as Mikomi smiled.

It didn't take them long at all; the yard was weed free in a matter of minutes and soon Mikomi started sending clones to help with the roofing.

"Yo," Kakashi called out. "Mikomi, can you hand me that roofing there." Kakashi pointed at some shingles that were sitting near the edge of the roof.

Mikomi nodded.

"Sure." she said heading over to the shingles and grabbing some.

"Thanks." Kakashi said as he took the shingles from Mikomi and began to affix them to the roof.

"No problem, sensei." Mikomi said walking across the roof from the other direction and handing Sasuke some sealant.

Kakashi blinked and glanced up at the two Mikomis blankly.

"Oh…" he said, "A _Kage bushin_."

Kakashi chuckled and shook his head causing the two Mikomis looked at him curiously.

"What's so funny sensei?" they asked in unison.

"Oh." Kakashi replied, "It's nothing."

The Mikomis shrugged and continued to help Sasuke seal the roof.

Sasuke grunted after a few minutes of sealing and stood up to stretch his back, looking at the clones helping him.

"It's supposed to be applied this way." He said, showing the clones how to properly apply sealant. "You need thicker coats; this isn't like painting a bedroom."

The Mikomis looked at him with small scowls on their faces before they puffed out of existence.

'_Must have expired,'_ Sasuke thought as he went about applying more sealant where they had been working.

"Sorry, Sasuke," Mikomi said as she crested the ladder. "My _bushin_ only last so long you know."

Mikomi Smiled and scratched the back of her head a little embarrassed.

"I'll help you finish," she said, grabbing the spare sealant from next to him and started in on the roof.

Sasuke looked at her indifferently expecting her to mess the job up again.

To his surprise, she didn't. She applied it exactly like he had shown her, which earned a slightly raised eyebrow from him.

"I did not show **you** how to apply the sealant." He said staring at her a moment. "How is it that you know how it's done?"

Mikomi looked at Sasuke and shrugged. "It's like I remember what my clone was taught…" she replied, "Honestly I don't quite understand it myself."

It took the team most of the morning to get the roof and yard done but they managed.

"Alright," Kakashi called out, it was around lunchtime, "Its time for a break, team 7."

Kakashi jumped from his perch on the roof of the house and landed gracefully on the ground, turning to see three very tired looking Genin standing behind him.

"Alright, after the break we'll get started on the inside." he said with a grin.

Sakura sighed and wiped some sweat off of her forehead.

Sasuke and Mikomi stayed quiet for the most part, but Kakashi could tell that maintaining those clones for so long had drained Mikomi.

"Children," Called the old lady from the porch, "Why not come inside to rest? It's cooler."

The old lady smiled at them as they all filed towards her.

Hiro appeared at the old woman's side, helping her into the house together.

Mikomi slumped in to the couch looking rather exhausted as Sakura flopped down next to her and Sasuke took up a perch on the couch arm, trying not to look exhausted.

Kakashi sat in a chair and took out his little book.

"Anyone care for some tea and a snack," the old woman said as Hiro helped her in to her chair. "Hiro has been preparing lunch all morning."

The genin nodded gratefully as Mikomi's stomach growled rather loudly and she blushed.

"Sorry." Mikomi said blushing as she covered her stomach with her hand.

"Quite alright my dear." the old woman said smiling, "You're a growing girl who needs to eat."

Mikomi still looked around sheepishly as Kakashi chuckled.

"Indeed." he said turning to his team, "In fact, some food might do you all good."

Kakashi turned to look at the old woman, smiling.

"We'd be honored to join you and Hiro for Lunch, Ma'am." he said with a small nod and a stashing of his book.

The old woman smiled and nodded as Hiro ran in to the kitchen to get the food.

"The honor is mine." the old woman said. "It's not everyday you get to treat some of the up and coming defenders of our village." She looked at Mikomi, her eyes lingering a moment, "or one who protects the village already." she said under her breath as Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

Hiro returned with the tea.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I'm still working on the sandwiches." Hiro bowed quickly and headed back in to the Kitchen.

"Responsible boy," Mikomi said as she took a sip of her tea, everyone, except Sasuke, nodding in agreement.

"Yes he is," replied the old lady, "He's been helping me around here since I got hurt. He's a very responsible young man for his age." They sat and drank the tea silently for a few moments before Sasuke looked at Kakashi then at Mikomi.

"Kakashi," Sasuke finally said, "Something interesting happened today."

"Hmm," Kakashi replied questioningly glancing at Sasuke. "What's that?"

"Well…" Sasuke said, "I had a couple of Mikomi's _bushin_ helping me with the sealant we applied to the roof."

Kakashi nodded glancing at Mikomi.

"And," Kakashi prompted.

"Her _bushins_ were applying the sealant wrong, and I was forced to show her the proper way to apply it," Sasuke replied, ignoring the scowl Mikomi sent his way. "A few minutes later the _bushin_ both vanished but she came over right afterwards."

Once again, Kakashi nodded his head as the others listened to Sasuke speak. Mikomi blinked her eyes, wondering when Sasuke was going to get to the point.

"She knew how to apply the Sealant but I did not show her how, I was wondering how that was possible."

Kakashi sat there thinking for a moment before he finally replied. Mikomi turned to look at him as she heard him begin to speak.

"It's one of the special traits of _Kage Bushin._" Kakashi said. "Whatever the _bushin_ learns the Original will know when the _bushin_ vanishes."

The three Genin looked at Kakashi blankly.

The old woman chuckled.

"You see, when you create a _Kage Bushin_ you create an actual body." she said as the Genin stared at her surprised. "I used to be a Kunoichi in my younger days." She said chuckling again at the surprised looks,

"A kunoichi of the leaf, it's how I met my husband."

"Anyways…" the old woman continued after a short pause, "When you create a _Kage Bushin_ you essentially split your Chakra, and in essence yourself, between the _Bushin_ created."

Kakashi smirked taking out his little book again; content to let the old woman give them the lecture.

"You've created a mind and a body and a Chakra coil system for the _Bushin_, which is based on your own and is connected because of that." the old woman said. "So when your _Bushin_ is destroyed you gain its knowledge. That's why they are used for spying and missions where there is no hope for survival."

The Genin nodded again though Sasuke didn't let on that he was interested at all.

"Remember though." The old woman finished, "This only applies to _Kage Bushin_."

The Genin nodded again.

"I'm surprised a Genin can even do such a Jutsu," the old woman said smiling at Mikomi. "You must be quite talented."

Mikomi's blush deepened and she scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"Umm…" Mikomi said, "Thanks."

Kakashi chuckled seeing the girl's reaction to praise.

Hiro finally returned with the sandwiches as the old woman finished her explanation and Mikomi's eyes lit up.

"Alright," Mikomi exclaimed, "I'm starving!"

Sakura giggled at Mikomi accepting the sandwich offered to her.

"Thank you Hiro-san." Sakura said smiling at the boy.

Mikomi's stomach let out another loud rumble as she was offered a sandwich and she blushed again,

"Thank you Hiro-san," Mikomi said when she regained her composure.

Hiro smiled and couldn't help but blush a little at the two cute girls thanking him.

Sasuke and Kakashi accepted the offered sandwiches with grunts of acknowledgement, neither of them paying any attention to the conversations flowing around the room.

Mikomi's eyes wandered around the room as she ate her sandwich, occasionally sipping her tea. Comfortable and cozy described the room perfectly, a description she could only dream of. She only owned a ratty old couch, a dilapidated card table and several discarded folding chairs, most of which were being held together by either tape or well placed nails.

It wasn't long before Mikomi was lost in thought, staring into space.

"Mikomi," Sakura asked, shaking her blonde friend's shoulder eliciting no response from the girl.

Sakura frowned as everyone stared at her. She beckoned Kakashi over.

"Hmm," Kakashi lazily asked.

"Something's wrong with Mikomi, sensei." She whispered into his ear.

Kakashi looked Mikomi over, assessing her condition, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

With a jolt, Mikomi flipped over her chair, launching a kunai into her assailant's, Kakashi's, face.

To Kakashi's credit he didn't flinch as he caught the Kunai between his fingers, coming within millimeters of his uncovered eye.

"Nice reaction." he drawled, a hint of praise in his voice, as he stood erect lazily stretching his back, and handed the projectile to her. "But you should never zone out like that, it could get you or your team killed."

Mikomi glanced around the room to the surprised looks from everyone except Sasuke.

"Umm," she mumbled sheepishly. "Sorry Kakashi-sensei."

She quickly put the Kunai back, thoroughly embarrassed.

Kakashi chuckled as he turned to return to his seat, while Mikomi crawled back over the couch to the seat she had been sitting in, her head bowed in embarrassment.

The last few minutes of lunch went in silence as Mikomi sipped on her tea and refused eye contact with anyone.

When Mikomi finally looked up to see if everyone was done she saw that the old woman was glancing at her quite often. This only made Mikomi feel even worse. She wished that she could go crawl under a rock, Mikomi then bowed her head even further and set her empty teacup on the table.

"Well…" Kakashi said after finished his tea. "We should get started."

The three Genin nodded and stood up ready to follow Kakashi when they heard a knock at the door.

"Could you answer that dear?" the old woman asked Mikomi as she smiled at the blond. "It's probably just a wrong address; I don't get many visitors here."

"Hai," Mikomi said moving towards the door and eager to get away from the woman's scrutinizing eyes.

"Hello," Mikomi asked as she opened the door, to her surprise she was staring at nothing.

"Damn ditchers."

Mikomi swore and turned to walk back in and close the door when she was tackled from behind.

"Mikomi-nichan," She heard just beforehand.

"Konohamaru-kun." she sighed, knowing the assailant by the sound of his voice and his weight; and, with a smirk, she rolled herself over onto the small boy clinging to her back. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just bored, Ebisu-sensei let me out of my lessons early today," Konohamaru replied, wriggling, trying to get out from under the older girl. "So I came over here to see if Hiro wanted to come out and play Ninja with us."

Mikomi giggled and let the boy up, and gave him a hug.

"Who're your friends?" She asked, noticing the two other children, who were watching the two of them from just outside the door.

"Oh." Konohamaru said, "That's..."

"Hold on," Mikomi interrupted, "Hiro! There's someone's here to see you."

She grinned at Konohamaru.

"Sorry, but Hiro should know that you're here." She said as she kissed him on the forehead.

"Mikomi-nichan!" he exclaimed, blushing a deep crimson. "Not in front of my friends."

Mikomi giggled again and ruffled his hair.

"Hiro's coming Mikomi-chan," Sakura said, rounding the corner "He's got…oh!"

"What do we have here?" said the old woman, finally joining the group

"Ohiyo, Sorsha-sama," Konohamaru grinned.

"Oh, hello Konohamaru," Sorsha, the old woman, replied. "How are you doing today?"

"I'm okay," Konohamaru replied, "just come by to see if Hiro wanted to play with Moegi, Udon, and I."

"I'm Moegi," said the girl, beaming up at Mikomi.

"I'm Udon," said the other boy.

"So you're the famous Mikomi, huh?" Moegi asked smiling while Mikomi blinked, "Konohamaru's told us a lot about you."

Mikomi giggled.

"Well he is a good boy," Mikomi said as she picked Konohamaru up, placing him on her hip and kissed him again. Konohamaru squeaked and the girls giggled.

Sorsha chuckled.

"You can go play Hiro." she said smiling, "I have plenty of help today, go have fun with your friends."

Hiro beamed and ran out with the others on his tail.

"It's good that Hiro has friends," Sorsha said leaning on Kakashi and turning to go back into the house.

"Come on." Kakashi called back over his shoulder, "We still have a lot of work to get done."

"Ok," Kakashi said, now that they had returned to the living room. "And since I'll be helping Sorsha-sama around, you three get started down here, shouldn't take too long."

Sakura took the kitchen, Sasuke handled the bookcase with all the figurines on it, though he wondered why Mikomi had been so adamant about him taking that one while she took care of the entryway, stairs leading upstairs and the living room floor.

"_Kage Bushin no Jutsu_," Mikomi called out creating five more of herself.

Mikomi's _Bushin_ double-teamed the stairs and carpets while the original and a clone tackled the entry hall.

"Damn…" she swore, wiping her brow. "It gets hot in here when you got two working." The other Mikomi nodded and continued on her task, it didn't take them long to get the hallway mopped and gleaming. Now finished, the two Mikomis went into the living room to check on the others. The other four Mikomis and Sakura were finishing the kitchen, and Sasuke was placing the last of the figurines back in place.

"Oh…" Mikomi said, "You're done."

At that moment Kakashi walked in to the living room.

"Good." he said, rubbing his hands together. "You're done; but we still have the entire upstairs to do."

The Genin grumbled as they all followed Kakashi to the stairs.

"Nice work," Kakashi said as he passed the entrance corridor, "Very well done."

Mikomi beamed a little bit at the praise.

They followed their sensei, walking up the stairs, looking at the pictures on the wall, all except Mikomi. She had seen the pictures when one of her overly enthusiastic _Bushin_ decided to clean the stairway.

Soon they reached the landing and stepped on to a crimson plush rug that ran the length of the hallway. The hallway was neither too long nor too short with 4 doors 2 on each side.

"Ok." Kakashi said, "The first room on the right is the bathroom, don't go in there. Other three are bedrooms, one of which is being used as storage. Also, we have to move this rug carefully it's very old, and clean the floor."

The three Genin nodded with Mikomi and her clones carefully removed the rug. Gently rolling it up, making sure it was well supported before taking it outside to clean it.

Sakura started on the floor by hauling a bucket from the kitchen and a mop, while Sasuke started washing down the wall with a sponge and another smaller bucket from the kitchen.

Mikomi coughed as the dust from the rug caked her face and sneezed.

"It's like this thing hasn't been cleaned in years." she grumbled as she went off in to another sneezing fit. One _Bushin_ poofed out of existence as it released a hefty sneeze disrupting its Chakra flow. Mikomi glanced over at the cloud of white smoke and sighed, setting herself off into yet another fit

'_I really hate cleaning stuff that hasn't been cleaned.'_ She thought as she pulled the collar of her shirt up to cover her mouth and nose. '_And I'll bet I'm filthy_.'

Mikomi grumbled as her other shadow clones vanished due to the time that had passed; thankfully, it didn't take her much longer to finish, but getting it back upstairs was going to be a challenge. She grumbled lifting the heavy rug in her arms before realizing that it had come unrolled and swore.

"_Damn._" she thought setting it down on the ground and rolled the rug back together, which proved difficult with just her. But finally she managed to get the rug back in to a roll and went inside, climbing the stairs grunting with each step.

Finally she made it back up the stairs in time to see Sasuke coming out of the far room on the right. He shot her a raised eyebrow as she grunted and sneezed her way up the stairs.

"Almost there," she gasped, sneezing again.

"Need help," Sasuke asked closing the door and giving her his special "_I-don't-really-care"_ look.

"That would be nice." she replied panting for breath. "It's a lot heavier than it looks."

Sasuke nodded and gave her a hand setting the rug back in place, always with the cold precision.

Mikomi still wondered why the girls liked him so much he was so cold to everyone.

"Thanks," she said giving him a smile.

Sasuke shrugged as Kakashi, with Sorsha, stepped in from the last room. Sakura came running up the stairs at that moment smiling.

Mikomi looked at Sakura incredulously; the girl had to have seen Mikomi trying to take the heavy rug up the stairs by herself.

"Didn't you see me trying to lug this thing up the stairs?"

Sakura looked at her blankly, "Last I saw you and 3 clones where just unrolling it."

Mikomi sighed again, putting her head in her hands.

"Alright," Kakashi said ignoring Mikomi's sulking for now. "There are three more rooms to go, Sakura bathroom, Sasuke first room on the left, Mikomi second room on the left understood?"

The three Genin grumbled and nodded going to their respective rooms. Kakashi laughed at them.

"Sorsha-sama and I will be downstairs." he announced, "Mikomi, don't use _Kage Bushin_ for this, you're looking a little tired." Mikomi looked at him and grumbled her acceptance; in truth she did feel somewhat run down.

Kakashi looked at her for a few minutes.

"Good." he said, "Now, work hard and get it done quickly."

The Genin once again nodded, before entering their respective rooms.

Mikomi walked in to the room she had been assigned and stopped, stunned.

"The storage room," She growled. "There's no way I can do this on my own."

She looked around at the, thankfully, organized room and nearly cried.

She thought. "_Why didn't Sakura and Sasuke do this room while I was outside?_"

She slid to the floor and stared at the mess.

Dust everywhere, cobwebs, more dust, more cobwebs, and boxes. She swore before standing up.

'_I have to get this done, one way or the other, I'm gunna get this done._' Mikomi rolled up her sleeves and went to work.

It took her roughly an hour to clean and clear out the boxes, stacking them in the clean room and made sure they were all still labeled, though several of the labels were old and had worn. She went downstairs to get a marker.

"Sorsha-sama," she called, entering the entrance hall.

She heard voices coming from the living room again, but as she entered the conversation died, instantly. A fact that was not lost on Mikomi, it caused her to frown slightly.

"Yes dear?" Sorsha asked smiling at her.

"Do you have a marker?" Mikomi asked smiling back, her frown disappearing. "I need to replace the labels on some of the boxes in the storage room."

"Oh…" Sorsha replied, "I'm sorry dear; I forgot that was the storage room. You can stay down here if you like; rest until the others are done."

"No, that's ok," Mikomi said, "I was assigned that room and I'll get that room done, you can count on it!"

"Alright my dear…" Sorsha said, laughing under her breath. "Here you are." Sorsha took the marker on the end table and gave it to Mikomi.

"Thank you," Mikomi said rushing back upstairs.

"I do hope she is alright Kakashi." Sorsha said giving Kakashi a look.

"She'll be fine." He replied. "She recovers quickly."

Sorsha nodded knowingly and they continued their previous conversation about the "Icha Icha Paradise" Series.

Mikomi made it back to the room she had the boxes and started recopying the labels on to the boxes themselves before heading back to the room she had been assigned.

She peaked in on Sasuke who seemed to be thinking about something and staring off into space.

"Sasuke." she said smirking as he turned to look at her. "We have a job to do." Sasuke merely shrugged and went back to the dusting he had been working on. A quick stop at the bathroom revealed Sakura hard at work and oblivious to anything else.

Mikomi walked back into the storage room and looked around in disgust.

'_This is going to take forever.'_ she thought as she surveyed the desolation.

"Ahha," she thought walking over to the window and flinging it open, she didn't mind the dust and cobwebs that fell on her.

"Filthy already," she thought

"Now how to get it out the window," she thought thinking again before a thought struck her. She grinned and closed the door.

'_Let's try that new jitsu I saw the jounin in the training grounds practicing.'_

'_Okay…' _she thought _'Let's do this!'_

Her hands blurred in to a series of seals.

She grinned as she felt the Chakra release, calling out; "_Fuuton: Senpuu no Jutsu!_ "

Suddenly she could feel the wind pick up in the room and she grinned even broader as the whirlwind took shape picking up all the dirt and grime. She looked back at the door and shot a very stunned Kakashi a smirk.

But, of course, the best laid plans of mice, men, and Mikomi are oft to stray.

Kakashi swore as the whirlwind pick Mikomi off the floor and slammed her into the ceiling before dropping her just as hard on the floor. Mikomi's body lay still as his hands blurred in a series of seals, Sorsha's, who was beside him, hands following suite.

"_Chakra Shingari no Jitsu,"_ Kakashi called out as he let his Chakra shoot through the floorboards and wrap around Mikomi's limp form, anchoring her to the floor.

"_Chakra Kyuu no Jitsu,"_ Sorsha called out as her Chakra trapped the whirlwind and forced it out the window dust and all.

Kakashi ran to Mikomi's prone form checking her vitals as the other two Genin came in to the room.

"What the…," Sakura exclaimed, "It looks like a tornado hit the room."

Sasuke looked around the room mutely.

"It did." Kakashi replied as the other two Genin laid eyes on their unconscious teammate.

"What happened?" Sakura exclaimed as she started forward.

"Stay there Sakura," Kakashi ordered as he looked at Sorsha, "I have to get her to the hospital."

Sasuke looked at Mikomi and then the room, and for once appeared confused and perhaps slightly concerned.

"Sasuke, Sakura," he said, not taking his eyes off his student. "Finish the room please."

"Just a minute young man," Sorsha interjected, "I'm coming with you and I want Sakura to help me."

Sakura nodded numbly before grabbing the handles to Sorsha's wheelchair quickly.

"Alright," Kakashi said as he gingerly picked up Mikomi, "Sasuke I leave the completion of the mission to you then."

Sasuke grunted his acknowledgement and sighed.

"Could you tell Hiro to go home, let him know I'm visiting a friend and won't be home till late," Sorsha told Sasuke as she and Sakura moved to go down stairs.

"And when you come to visit can you bring me the Fox figurine that's in the back on the second shelf of the bookcase downstairs."

It took Sasuke very little time to finish the storage room, all he had to do was put the boxes back, he checked the bathroom, and Sakura had finished in there. He glanced around the bathroom, and not that he'd ever tell her, Sakura is one heck of a housekeeper, and for once he was impressed with her.

'_She heals up very quickly from serious injuries and…._' He thought before he stopped himself, his thoughts strayed to Mikomi and what had happened, something was off about her, and shook his head.

He glanced around the room, frowning.

'_Was I concerned?'_ he thought. _"I can't have such burdens."_

He grumbled going back to work before another thought struck him.

"How did Sorsha know…" he said to himself, "How did she know I was going to go visit Mikomi…when I _just_ realized I was going to." He frowned again and grumbled going back to work finally pushing all those thoughts to the back of his head.

**Hours Later**

Mikomi opened her eyes slowly.

"Ow…." she moaned as she tried to focus on the blur in front of her. "My head feels like I just played chicken with a bull."

She blinked a few times before her vision finally cleared up and found herself staring in to Kakashi's revealed eye.

"Hmm…" Kakashi said looking at her, "You're awake."

"Thank Kami." he thought, "I'm glad, but she can't know that right now."

Mikomi just blinked at Kakashi before glancing around the room slowly.

"Hospital." she said. "What am I doing here?"

Kakashi stood up.

"You're here because you did something stupid." he said raising his voice.

Mikomi flinched, and went to open her mouth but Kakashi cut in again.

"What you did in that house was stupid, dangerous, and utterly idiotic." Kakashi fumed. "You could have killed yourself pulling such a bonehead stunt. I thought you were smarter than that, Uzumaki Mikomi."

Mikomi winced at her full name.

"But…," she didn't get very far, Kakashi was on a roll and he wasn't going to let her get a word in.

"One: that technique is not to be used indoors," he said allowing his anger in to fuel his voice. "Two: you do not have the skill or the Chakra control to control such a technique. Three: you were tired and not at the top of your game. Four: you are **not** to use that technique ever again unless myself, or the Hokage are there to supervise. Understand!?!"

Kakashi whirled on her glowering.

Mikomi shrunk away for a moment before indignation set in.

"What!" Mikomi shouted back, "You distracted me. I was doing perfectly fine!" Kakashi narrowed his eyes, though only the revealed eyed showed it, "**If **you knew what you were doing," he growled, "I would not have been able to distract you!"

Mikomi gaped at him for a minute before she growled at him and rolled over, turning her back to him.

Kakashi sighed. "I have to report back to Hokage-sama," he said to Sorsha, who had been sitting in a chair to one side silently.

Sorsha nodded her head as Kakashi walked out of the room and sighed, she knew Kakashi was right, she knew that Mikomi knew that he was right, but it still didn't stop the blond from being hurt.

Sorsha sighed as she rolled her wheel chair closer to the bed and put a reassuring hand on Mikomi's shoulder.

"He doesn't care." Mikomi mumbled, "He just doesn't care, he's just like everyone else in this whole village." Sorsha's heart broke hearing Mikomi say that.

"No one cares about me," Mikomi said again, "Sometimes I wish I hadn't been born; maybe I'm just better off dead."

"Really," Sorsha asked when she couldn't take anymore. "You really think so, hmm?"

Mikomi didn't respond for a bit at first then she finally rolled over.

"Yeah," Mikomi said. Sorsha nodded a moment and asked.

"What makes you think that my dear?"

"It's the truth." Mikomi stated matter-of-factly. "They hate me because of…"

Mikomi trailed off there and sighed rolling back over.

"Besides what do you care?" Mikomi said, "You probably hate me as much as everyone else."

"Actually no, I don't." Sorsha replied, "Though I will be honest, I used to."

Mikomi rolled over and looked at Sorsha.

Sorsha saw the haunted look in Mikomi's eyes

Finally after a few minutes Sorsha pulled something out from her bag and showed it to Mikomi.

Mikomi gasped and squirmed away from the object.

"You do know what this figurine depicts right," Sorsha asked.

"It's the Kyuubi."

Sorsha nodded.

"But something tells me you know more about its significance than you let on dear." Sorsha said eyeing Mikomi. Sorsha had always been good at reading people and Mikomi was like an open book.

"It's why everyone hates me," Mikomi finally said, "Why everyone despises me."

Sorsha nodded sadly.

"So you know dear…" she said, "You know the truth?"

Mikomi nodded.

"Yeah, I'm its container." Mikomi replied, "And it is the reason everyone hates me."

Sorsha knew the girl was completely torn up by this simple truth and sighed.

Sorsha sat there a moment as Mikomi stared at her before speaking again.

"You know the story." Sorsha said, "So I won't bore you with history class."

Sorsha smiled lightly and patted Mikomi's cheek lightly, this time Mikomi didn't flinch away.

"You see," Sorsha continued, "The Kyuubi killed my husband and my son."

Mikomi frowned beginning to slide away again with a fearful look.

"I'm not Kyuubi," Mikomi pleaded.

"I know dear," Sorsha replied, "I know that now."

Sorsha sighed again and went on.

"You see, dear, I used to hate you. My husband was dead and so was my son because of the Kyuubi. It was a terrible time in my life and I needed to get away from the memories." Sorsha stopped to take a breath before going on.

"I left Konoha for a while," Sorsha said, "And traveled. Finally I came across a village in the grass country. I found a shop full of sculptures and decided to go in. I looked around for a while not finding anything that really struck my fancy until I saw this figurine. I took it up to the shopkeeper and demanded he throw it out, that he was idolizing something evil."

Sorsha looked at Mikomi who seemed to shrink away with every word.

"The shopkeeper refused." Sorsha continued, "So I threw it at him and stormed out. A few days after that I found myself back in Konoha and decided to go talk to the Hokage. You were about five years old when I returned. I walked in to the Hokage's office and demanded he put you down. You had caused all the death and destruction of the village, but he wouldn't hear of it."

Sorsha stopped to think a moment she knew she was scaring the girl, but she had to tell Mikomi the truth, she had to do it to finally lighten her own heart.

"The Hokage heard me out with patience and understanding." Sorsha continued on. "And then he finally asked me a single question that shook me to the core and forced me to look at it all from a different perspective. He asked 'Would you kill your grandchild because he was associated with a murderer?' That is what the Hokage said, and of course I balked at the notion and told him 'no'. It was then that he nodded and looked at me, 'then why do you want me to kill Mikomi when she is merely associated with a murderer?' The simple questions made me think, and that's what I needed."

Sorsha chuckled.

"I thought about it for a long time after leaving his office. Finally I came to a conclusion; you were not the Kyuubi. You were the child who was chosen to guard one of the most dangerous criminals Konoha had ever seen. I went back to that shop in the country of wheat a couple of weeks later and purchased this figurine."

Sorsha sighed after a few moments of wiping her eyes.

"I want you too look at the bottom of it," Sorsha told Mikomi, "but you must hold it." Mikomi recoiled at the thought wondering if this were some trick to kill her.

Mikomi stared at the demon that had been the bane of her entire life, the monster that had slain so many, and frowned.

Finally after a long time, Mikomi decided she had nothing left to lose and took the figurine, flipping it over in her hand to look at the bottom and nearly dropped it.

There, on the bottom was her picture, when she was about 6 years old. It was of her and the Hokage, he had his arm around her and they were both smiling. She remembered that day. She had been so excited.

Mikomi smiled lightly at the picture.

"I have one just like it in my photo album." she said, "The photo album oji-san gave me for my 10th birthday."

Sorsha smiled warmly and patted Mikomi on the shoulder gently.

After what seemed like hours of silence Sorsha spoke up again.

"As for everyone hating you," she said, "I think you are wrong."

Mikomi looked at Sorsha blankly for a moment before Sorsha spoke again.

"Sakura was here with you. An Inuzuka boy and a small pup were also here, he's sort of a wild one though,"

Sorsha chuckled as did Mikomi at the mention of Kiba.

"Also a couple more boys were here, that Nara boy and the Akimichi boy as well. I think that were their names. Even a Hyuuga came to visit. Not to mention that Sasuke came to make sure you were alright."

Mikomi blinked.

"The ice king," Mikomi asked and giggled lightly, "I didn't think he liked anyone."

Sorsha chuckled.

"Seems you were mistaken," Sorsha said, "Also the Hokage came to visit and so did a boy named Lee. I think that Lee really likes you, dear."

Mikomi blushed brightly and giggled.

"I like him too," she said sheepishly as Sorsha smiled down at her.

"Reminds me of my husband and I," Sorsha said, "We met as Genin and it went from there."

"We seem to have gotten off topic though…" Sorsha said taking the figurine away gently and putting it back in the bag.

"Do you know why I have that picture of you on this figurine?"

Mikomi shook her head and looked at Sorsha expectantly.

"Because…" Sorsha continued, "It reminds me that, though I might see the Kyuubi, underneath all the old memories and all the pain there is a beautiful and smiling little girl who is her own person."

Mikomi smiled and sniffed as the tears welled up in her eyes.

"Thanks," she said as Sorsha leaned in and gave her a hug. Mikomi returned the hug and wiped her face dry with her hospital gown sleeve.

"Any time my dear," Sorsha said, "Any time. Oh and I agree with Kakashi about that technique, but because I know that he cares for you and wishes you to stay safe."

Mikomi sighed and nodded again.

"I know…" Mikomi said looking reticent, "I guess I have to apologize when I see him again."

Sorsha smiled at the girl and nodded.

"And that is what separates an adult from a child," Sorsha said smirking.

Mikomi grinned and they sat in comfortable silence for a few moments.

And before they knew it, a doctor came in and looked at Sorsha.

"I'm sorry ma'am." he said, "Our visiting hours are over, and I have to ask you to leave."

Sorsha looked at the doctor smiling.

"Alright…" she said as she began to collect her things. Sorsha smiled and gave Mikomi another hug before wheeling herself to the door, but stopped, she could feel killing intent; it was hidden well, but there. Sorsha glanced around and noted only the doctor and Mikomi falling asleep on the bed.

The Doctor smiled down at her.

"Can I help you with anything?" the doctor asked.

"Yes." Sorsha said smiling again, "Actually, yes, yes you can. As you can tell I'm not exactly completely mobile right now." she said again smiling, "Could I use one of your messenger birds to let my family know I'm alright? I came here to visit her and I've been here later than I wanted."

"Of course, ma'am," the doctor replied as Sorsha looked at him confirming him as the source of the killing intent.

"Oh, thank you young man," she said as she began to wheel out the door, "Please it's been a long time can you help me find them?"

The doctor nodded and they moved out of the room, the doctor closed the door behind him.

Mikomi rolled over in bed already sleeping again; totally oblivious to what was going on. Sorsha hoped it stayed that way for a while; the killing intent was definitely focused on the girl.

Finally they made it to the room and the doctor left her alone citing rounds he needed to do.

"Good." Sorsha thought as she composed the letter, "Hopefully it keeps him busy long enough."

She released the bird after placing the letter in its carrier, watching it fly away and head straight for the Hokage's tower smirking.

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A/N: Special thanks to my BETAs who take so much time out of their lives to go through and make these chapters so much easier to read. I would like to send out a special thank you to everyone who sent a PM or a prayer for Noriko's complete and quick recovery. And, of course, thank you for reading my chapters and sending me review. Remember Review, Review Review! I can't write better if my Review inbox has more dust in it than the desert.

Translations: Fuuton: Senpuu no Jitsu:

Air Element: Whirlwind Technique

Chakra Shingari no Jitsu:

Chakra anchor technique

Chakra Kyuu no Jitsu:

Chakra sphere/globe technique

BETA's note: thanks for being so patient with us, Noriko's been having some serious medical problems and so delayed this. Thanks to anyone who PM and/or included us in their prayers.

Arigato gosaimasu

Aengus and Kitsune no Noriko


	7. Chapter 8

Uzumaki Mikomi

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A/N: Ok here's the chapter 7 in all its raw glory. I hope you like it. Of course I haven't been able to format it in to the way you all like it. This is due, mainly, to my schooling when it comes to writing. I write this in old fashioned "book" format. It's the only way I know how to write, sorry folks.

Anyways, read and enjoy.

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Chapter 7

Mikomi sighed again and looked around. She had been waiting for everyone for an hour this time around. She looked around again hoping to see at least someone as the sun crested the horizon. "I can't believe Lee wasn't there," she thought, "he said he was going to be at his usual training spot today." Mikomi stood up and stretched as she once again looked around, "well," she thought, "a watched pot never boils." One last look around and she walked off the bridge.

She set down the shopping bag she was using and began running through a few warm up moves. She reached down and touched her toes a few times doing a few side stretches. She kicked her foot out slowly and held it there, allowing her leg muscles to stretch some. A few slow punches and kicks and she picked up the pace slightly.

She jumped in the air and threw an aerial roundhouse out, followed by a spinning back hand as she landed gracefully. A smirk began to form on her face as she began practicing a few of the more demanding techniques. She spun in to a series of roundhouse kicks and punches designed to over balance an opponent. She kept her center of balance through out the entire routine making sure her footing was perfect, just like Gai had taught her. A quick front kick followed up by a lung punch and sweep.

She was beginning to work up a sweat with the training routine when she heard someone approaching; judging by the sound it had to be Sasuke. She spun in her routine withdrawing a Kunai from both pouches strapped at her thighs and sent them both careening through the air at Sasuke. Sasuke, to his credit, didn't seem to flinch or anything as he quickly caught one and used it to deflect the other back at Mikomi. Mikomi grinned; she had to admit he was good. She spun around as her hand snapped out catching it by the handle and came to a rest in a defensive crouch eyeing Sasuke who was also in a defensive pose.

The two genin stood staring at each other for a few minutes, sizing the other up. Suddenly Mikomi launched herself at Sasuke who merely nodded and set up to defend. Mikomi changed the angle of the attack at the last minutes spinning and coming in at Sasuke's left. Sasuke blocked the attack easily as he looked her in the eyes before he forced her back. Sasuke had the strength on her, but she had the cleverness. She smirked and created a clone. The clone jumped off to the side as Sasuke eyed them both; Mikomi could swear he had the slightest of smirks on his face. The clone led the next run, with Mikomi hot in its heels. Sasuke delivered a strong front kick to the clone dissipating it. That was all the distraction Mikomi needed as she jumped over the cloud of smoke. When she crested the smoke she could see Sasuke lining up another attack at the cloud assuming she was going to follow through. "HA," Mikomi exclaimed as she came down on Sasuke Kunai first, "gotcha." Sasuke looked up and frowned lightly before he brought the Kunai he had up and blocked the attack jumping back. Sasuke forced Mikomi's kunai down by flipping his around and putting pressure on the back of hers. Mikomi's kunai buried itself in the ground as Sasuke spun around and held his kunai to her throat.

"Damn" she said panting heavily, "almost had you." Mikomi grinned up at Sasuke as he moved the kunai away from her throat. Mikomi placed her kunai in the pouch on her left leg as she turned to face Sasuke holding out her hand. Sasuke handed her the kunai and seemed to smirk again ever so slightly. Mikomi grinned at him putting that kunai in the right pouch. "So," she said, "what took you so long?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow and looked at her oddly for a moment before speaking. "You are early," he countered, "I am on time." Mikomi sighed, "Do you know how boring it is with no one around," she asked, "I mean I had enough time to practice the more complex forms of my Tai jitsu." Sasuke shrugged at her as he schooled his face back to its normal indifference and turned to take his usual spot leaning against the railing of the bridge. Mikomi followed after she grabbed her bag and sat down where she normally sits.

Mikomi pulled out a banana and tossed it to Sasuke who took it out of midair. "Good move there," Mikomi commented pealing another banana for herself, "I thought I had you so easily with that last run." Sasuke shrugged, "I was expecting an attack as soon as I dispelled your clone," he said, "so I was ready for the attack." Mikomi sighed and nodded, "I guess," she said, "but damn you're fast when ya gotta be." Mikomi giggled lightly taking a bite from the banana. Sasuke looked at her for a moment before pealing his banana and digging in.

They ate in relative silence as Sasuke's mind worked overtime as usual. Sasuke actually liked having the snack at the beginning of the day, it didn't help that he got up extremely early and trained sometimes forgetting to eat before their team meetings. He glanced at Mikomi again and then towards the water. He hated to admit it but he was beginning to like having Mikomi around and Sakura, now that she was over all that fan girl crap. Sasuke took another bite of the banana and stared at the water. Sakura had made it to his "tolerate" list with Mikomi, he didn't have any lists higher than that…and could count the 2 names as the only ones on that list. Kakashi was just on the "Higher rank so I have to respect him" list.

"Ohiyo," both Genin heard at the same time they heard footsteps hitting the ground. They both looked over to see Sakura running up and waving to them. "Ohiyo," Mikomi yelled back and smiled standing up, "what took you so long?" Sakura frowned at Mikomi playfully, "what are you talking about," Sakura said, "I'm early as usual. You two just got here earlier." Mikomi giggled as Sakura finally made it to them and gave Mikomi a hug, "how are you Mikomi," Sakura asked. Mikomi rolled her eyes and sighed, "I'm fine Sakura," she said, "really I'm ready to go back to work." Mikomi smiled and fished out a banana, giving it to Sakura. "I'll be fine really," Mikomi said at the concerned look Sakura shot her, "really."

Though on the inside Mikomi wasn't so sure she was fine, not because of her messed up jitsu but what happened in the hospital afterwards. Mikomi sighed and turned around to sit back in her place and stared at the water. She was sort of fuzzy on all the details, like a really bad dream. She sighed peeling another banana and let her mind go back to that night a few days ago.

_Mikomi didn't know what was going on at the time. She remembered wondering why she was so roughly taken from her bed as she was trying to sleep. Why she was laying on the cold tiles of the hospital room. She thought she was by the door but she couldn't be sure. She tried to look around at her surroundings but everything was fuzzy, like she couldn't focus on anything. "Did it do more damage than I thought," she thought to herself as she tried to focus on the shape above her. Suddenly she heard the sound of metal clashing on metal, like a battle was going on in the room she was in. She remembered trying to get up and failing, her arms and legs just didn't want to respond and the constant dizziness when she moved wasn't helping much. She could hear the battle raging on in her room, a few words some blurred movement and silence for a bit before an exchange of metal assaulted her ears. It seemed to take forever as the world drew on slower and slower, she could swear time was beginning to slow down as her body felt heavier and heavier. She knew she wasn't going to last much longer but she wanted to see what was going on. _

_She had managed to stand shakily using the wall for support after what seemed like hours. She saw a battle, blurs of movement and the flash of metal sparking on metal. She took a step forward and promptly fell back to the ground. She couldn't really move and she was so tired. Finally there was a strangled cry and she blacked out._

Mikomi frowned lightly as she came back to herself and glanced around. Sakura was busy working on some chakra control exercises as Sasuke seemed content to stare at the water. Mikomi blinked a few times and looked at the banana she had peeled and began to finish eating it. She offered the last two bananas to Sasuke and Sakura who took them and began to eat the fruits. Mikomi smiled at them glad they were so ready to accept the fruits she offered. The memories were fading quickly as she stood to stretch and looked around. "Yo," the three Genin heard as Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke waving. "Sorry I'm late," he said, "but you see there was this dog…" Kakashi didn't make it too far as the girls called him a liar, pointing at him accusingly and Sasuke looked at him neutrally.

"Alright, alright," Kakashi said after a few more minutes of accusations, "I have something I need you three to do before we go get our missions for the day." The girls stopped their nagging so he could speak. Kakashi pulled three pieces of plain white paper from his shuriken pouch and handed one to each of his genin. "Now," he said standing up again, "I want all three of you to concentrate on the paper and focus your chakra through it. Keep it constant we have worked on this in training the last couple of days." The three genin eyed the pieces of paper confused before shrugging and focusing their chakra on it. They maintained a constant flow of chakra to the paper though it didn't seem like anything was happening.

It took a few minutes for any sort of reaction to take place as the genin focused. Suddenly Sasuke's paper burst in to flames and burned completely to ash in a few seconds. Mikomi and Sakura blinked and looked at Sasuke before Kakashi told them to focus. "Hai," they said in unison as they again focused on the papers, Suddenly Mikomi's split right down the middle in to two equal pieces. Mikomi blinked and looked at the paper blankly wondering what was going on and what it meant but Kakashi wasn't ready to explain just yet. Kakashi noticed this and sighed lightly with a nod of the head, "I figured," he thought as his mind wandered back to the other night.

_He had just finished his report to the Hokage when the messenger bird came and pecked on the window of the Hokage's office. The Hokage raised his eyebrow and glanced at the clock noting what time it was. "Hmm," he said, "must be important." _

_The Hokage stood up and walked over to the window allowing the bird entry. "Let's see what it is," he said as he took the message from its container, "Hmm…local bird too," he said unrolling the letter. The Hokage read the letter deliberately as was his norm. "This is handwriting I haven't seen in a long while," the Hokage said with a chuckle which quickly turned in to a frown. "Kakashi," the Hokage said with a stern voice, "get to the hospital now. I have reason to believe Mikomi is in trouble." Kakashi's brow rose, "Hai," he said as he vanished, when it came to the safety of his genin he was never late. The Hokage sent up a bird with the call for all ANBU to meet in his office immediately_

_Kakashi made his way through Konoha rooftop to rooftop quickly. He was thinking of possible scenarios he might come across when he arrived. There was the most likely and nothing was going on, just a false alarm. Then again there could be a problem; anything from poison to a quick stab through the heart ran through his head. He even thought of other less pleasant scenarios for the young woman. Kakashi shook his head, keeping the possibilities there but in the back of his head. He caught sight of the hospital in the distance and started moving faster._

_Kakashi landed on the small ledge near Mikomi's room and peered in to the room cautiously. "Nothing," he thought with a bit of relief, "hopefully it stays that way." Unfortunately that was not to be, as soon as he thought that he noticed the door move. Kakashi sighed and kept his eye trained on the movement, he couldn't see much through the curtains. The same curtains proved to be a help in a few minutes. _

_Kakashi opened the window quietly, he had the feeling this was going to be bad and he wanted complete access to the room if he needed it. He peaked in noting someone turn and close the door at the other side of the room. He also made sure Mikomi was still in the bed which sat just to the side of the window. He slipped back outside flashing through some seals to create a calm area for wind and such. He listened quietly as he heard the footsteps move towards bed. "Now," he heard someone say, "let's take care of this little job and get paid." Kakashi cursed in his head and moved quickly. _

_Kakashi was fast enough, he was able to grab Mikomi and get her across the room before the doctor could kill Mikomi. Kakashi saw the flash of the kunai as it drove in to the bed deeply. He looked at Mikomi noting that she was awake, but she seemed groggy. A quick examination of her eyes revealed that she was definitely drugged and Kakashi frowned darkly. Kakashi spun around to look the doctor straight in the face. "You won't kill a Konoha Shinobi," Kakashi said in low tones, "why do you wish her dead?" The doctor only shrugged, "money," he said before moving towards Kakashi, the kunai he hand flashing through the air towards Kakashi's head. Kakashi deflected the kunai quickly with his own Kunai, launching it at the doctor in the same motion. _

_The doctor was far better at fighting than Kakashi knew was normal. Kakashi again ducked another kick drawing another Kunai. The doctor had dodged the previous Kunai with ease. Kakashi glanced over his shoulder noting Mikomi trying to stand up and sighed hoping she'd simply fall back down and pass out. Kakashi ducked as a Kunai nearly imbedded itself in to his throat slicing through a little of his silver hair. "Pay attention," the doctor said mockingly, "or you're going to die, and then she's going to die." The Doctor gave Kakashi a cruel grin and came at him again. Kakashi moved quickly blocking with his kunai, the sparks from the two weapons showering the floor with the force of each blow. Kakashi knew he had to stop the fight soon or it could get bad. Kakashi had noted the doctor seemed to be working his way in Mikomi's direction. Finally Kakashi had no choice but to move on to the offensive, he quickly created a shadow clone. The doctor didn't seem to notice and went after the shadow clone. The clone puffed in to a cloud of smoke as Kakashi came down on the doctor's head, effectively knocking him out. Kakashi looked up as he felt the ANBU arrive._

_It took them a couple moments to secure the doctor as Kakashi heard a grunt behind him. He turned to see Mikomi fall on to the floor out cold. Kakashi took out some field medicine that was used to remove drugs from the system and gave Mikomi a dose. He sighed and gently picked Mikomi back up and put her back to bed. Little did she know he was there all night, until she was released the next afternoon. _

Kakashi looked at Sakura who was concentrating as hard as she could and nothing was happening. Sakura was looking rather confused, angry and frustrated at her nonsuccess and he sighed. He let her try for a little bit longer before he stopped her. "Ok, Sakura," he said smiling, "that's enough." Sakura sighed in defeat and looked at Kakashi rather sadly as her eyes began to glisten lightly, "Kakashi-sensei," she said, "why cant' I do it and they can?" Kakashi sighed and smiled at Sakura patting her shoulder, "Sakura it's ok," he said, "It's not something everyone can do." Sakura looked at Kakashi and he sighed and cursed lightly seeing her totally depressed. "Seems like she has no ability with nature manipulation, at least not yet," he thought, "but I do wonder." He took Mikomi's papers, "can I borrow these," he said taking them, "thanks." Kakashi smiled while Mikomi frowned lightly, "ok Sakura," he said handing her the papers, "we're going to try something. Concentrate on these two pieces, makes sure they are close together though."

Sakura nodded and sighed focusing on the paper again, suddenly the paper just seemed to glow a slight green shade and become whole again. Sakura blinked at it blankly, "huh?" she said as Mikomi looked at it curiously as well. "I see," Kakashi chuckled, "makes sense." The three genin looked at him curiously, "so," Sasuke said, "what was that all about?" Kakashi smirked, "always right to business Sasuke," he shook his head. "Alright," Kakashi said, "time to explain what I just did here, I suppose." Kakashi took the whole papers back and put them up.

"Well you see," Kakashi began, "these papers are permeated with chakra, it's used to find out what sort of nature manipulation you are aligned with." The Genin looked at him curiously, "I decided to do this test," Kakashi continued, "after Mikomi's accident at Sorsha-sama's home." He looked at his Genin, "Sakura was unable to do anything yet because she not really aligned with any particular nature," he said, "but this proves that Mikomi is wind aligned and Sasuke is fire aligned." Mikomi and Sasuke looked at Kakashi with raised eyebrows. "Sakura," he said looking at her, she was looking rather disappointed, "it's ok, the final test proved it." "You," he continued looking at Sakura, "are very well suited for the medical field, unfortunately I don't think they are accepting applicants for that field, nor will they be doing so anytime soon."

Mikomi walked over to hug Sakura as Kakashi spoke again, "I'll look in to it more," he said, "but I'm very sure they aren't. But, this has given me an idea of what training to pursue with you three." "I will be setting you in to some new training soon, after you all master the chakra control exercises we've been practicing the last couple of days," Kakashi said, "and that is a surprise for each of you." Kakashi chuckled as their faces fell; even Sasuke looked disappointed at that. "Come on," Kakashi said, "we have missions to get." Kakashi set off towards the Hokage's tower with three genin hot on his tail.

It only took them the usual few minutes to get to the Hokage's tower and walk in to the room. "Ahh," The Hokage said smiling, "how are you doing today?" The genin shrugged as Mikomi walked up to give him a hug, "heya grandpa," she said as she stood next to Sakura, "I'm doing good." The Hokage chuckled at her and nodded, "that's good," he said, "Ready for you next mission?" The girls grinned as Sasuke remained neutral on the matter, "I see," the Hokage said, "Alright here's your missions today." The Hokage read off a list of a few D-rank missions and smiled, "before you go though," he said, "Mikomi can I see you in my office a moment." Mikomi blinked, "ermm…ok grandpa…" she said looking somewhat confused and maybe a bit worried. She hated it when she got in trouble with the Hokage, and she just had a feeling she was in trouble.

Mikomi sat in the chair in front of the Hokage's desk as he stood in front of her, "now," he said, "I need you to wait outside Kakashi." Kakashi complied with the request and walked out the door. Mikomi looked at the Hokage worriedly, "am I in trouble grandpa," she asked. The Hokage chuckled and shook his head, "no Mikomi your not," he replied, "I just need to check something. Can you lift your shirt far enough for me to see the seal." Mikomi cocked her head curiously, "ermm…ok," she said as she lifted the shirt just enough so her belly was seen. The Hokage ran through a few seals with his hands and looked at Mikomi's belly, "as I thought," he said focusing Chakra in to his hands," this may feel odd Mikomi but it needs to be done." Mikomi frowned but dealt with the embarrassment and the weird feeling, "it seems someone sealed the seal," the Hokage said as he places his hands on her belly forcing Chakra in to it, "no wonder the drugs took effect so well."

It took several minutes for the Hokage to remove the secondary seal, "all done," he said as he removed his hands, "that should do it." Mikomi smiled and ticked her shirt back in, "why would they seal my seal," Mikomi asked looking at the Hokage. "the Hokage frowned for a moment then sighed, "they were making it impossible for the Kyuubi's chakra to mix with your own to save you," he said, "basically they made it so the Kyuubi couldn't save you and it'd be easier to kill you." Mikomi blinked then frowned looking worried, "but…why?" The Hokage sighed, "I don't know Mikomi," he replied, "I'm trying to find out but whoever is after you is very good at keeping their tracks concealed." Mikomi sighed and stood up placing a hand over the seal. "You can go now Mikomi," he said, "send Kakashi in and join your teammates." Mikomi Nodded and gave the Hokage a quick hug before running out the door, stopping just long enough to tell Kakashi what the Hokage said.

Kakashi walked in and looked at the Hokage. "They sealed the seal Kakashi," the Hokage said, "and they did a fairly good job of it. I would like to see this as an isolated incident, but the little information we were able to gather on our doctor points to a much bigger problem." "Hmm," Kakashi said, "I see, what should I do?" The Hokage sighed and walked around his desk to sit down, "keep an eye on her for now," he said, "it's all we can do. That doctor wasn't even a Konoha doctor; he was a Shinobi of the rock." Kakashi grumbled and nodded. "Someone," the Hokage continued, "Or a group is trying to kill her, it is the only conclusion left to me now." The Hokage sighed, "And I have to consider it is an internal issue. No outside shinobi would know where to locate the seal," the Hokage said. Kakashi again nodded and frowned lightly. "We're investigating it," the Hokage said, "go to your team and train them well, Kakashi. Your training may very well be the fact that saves them one day." "Perhaps," Kakashi replied, "as you wish Hokage-sama." Kakashi vanished in a cloud of smoke leaving the Hokage to his own thoughts.

It had been a month or so since Kakashi had promised to teach them all something new. They were working on the tree walking exercise; they each would take a turn running up a tree. Mikomi fell fairly hard almost every time she tried; Kakashi would tell her it was because she was putting too much in to it.

Mikomi landed on her rear once again and cursed profusely, "damn," she mumbled the rest of her curses; even Sasuke was looking at her oddly by the time she was able to see past the pain again. Mikomi was getting frustrated with every failed attempt, she looked at Sakura who had already completed the exercise and was working on the water walking exercise. Sakura was giggling lightly at Mikomi who shot her hurt looks. Sakura walked up and smiled helping Mikomi up, "I'm sorry," Sakura said, "your still putting too much in to it. You have to relax more and work on putting out just enough." Mikomi sighed and grumbled brushing her pants off, "yeah, yeah," Mikomi said. Mikomi watched Sasuke run to near the top before he was forced to flip off the tree and come back down.

Mikomi growled after Sasuke landed, "I have to beat him up," she thought. She lowered her head and put her hands in to the ram seal and concentrated her Chakra to her feet. She had a feeling this was going to turn out to be the time; she took a deep breath and opened her eyes slowly eyeing the tree. "Your about to get climbed,' she said carefully as she began to walk towards it. "Kya!" she shouted as she began to move faster, she pumped her legs in to the ground hard and fast. Her speed was kicking in, all that training with Lee paying off. She came to the base of the tree quickly and planted her foot on the bark of the tree. She concentrated on her chakra control, focusing her chakra through her feet. She wasn't really concentrating on going up at all, never having the goal in her sight. She just focused on maintaining the chakra levels she needed. She wasn't even sure if she had moved at all until her foot met nothing and she nearly fell over.

She stood like that, her foot stepping on nothing. She looked around at the clouds and the birds noting the surprisingly clear skies and grinned. It was a nice view until she looked down and noticed she was barely attached to the tree with one foot. She panicked right then and nearly fell through the branches again before she grunted and flipped around latching on to the tree top with a grin. "I made it," she sighed beaming over all of Konoha, she noticed her house and the houses of her friends from the treetop, "so this is why they like to climb trees so much." Mikomi giggled brightly and glanced down at Sakura and Sasuke who were both looking up at her. She waved at them and concentrated her chakra back to her feet; she placed her feet on the tree trunk again, tentatively, and stood erect again. It didn't take her long but she walked back down the tree with a big grin on her face and a skip in her step. She nearly fell off a couple of times but she regained her chakra control.

She finally set foot on the ground again and beamed at her teammates with a very happy Sakura running up and giving her a big hug, "that's great Mikomi," Sakura exclaimed. Mikomi giggled and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly before returning the hug, "thanks Sakura," she said as she looked over to Sasuke. Sasuke wasn't looking all that happy but Mikomi had a feeling he was going to get it this time around.

Sasuke frowned darkly and eyed the girls hugging each other, "how could she get this before me," he thought as he looked at them. He eyed the tree a moment and then looked Mikomi over; he knew she had completed this exercise before he did. It made him somewhat angry as he crossed his arms and looked to the top of the tree. "Hmm," Sasuke thought, "when she was climbing this tree. It didn't seem she was concentrating on the tree at all, just the chakra." Sasuke smirked lightly and nodded, "I'll teach her," he thought as he took a few steps back.

Sasuke focused his chakra and then only concentrated on how his feet felt. He closed his eyes a moment and calmed himself. When his eyes opened again he was the same calm cool Uchiha he should be and he began to run towards the tree. He wasn't traveling as fast as Mikomi was; he wanted to prove to her he didn't need the momentum to help him. He had to prove to himself that he could do this under his own control not his momentum. He covered the ground quickly as he approached the tree once again searching the feelings around his feet to make sure he had the right Chakra levels.

Finally his foot met the trunk of the tree and he began moving up, he wasn't focusing on the top of the tree he was simply focusing on the chakra control he needed. His foot slipped once but it was a small hindrance to him as he continued to climb up in the tree, smirking a little bit as the girls both gasped. "Not so inobservant," he thought, "at least not as much as I thought they were. They both managed to notice my foot slip right there." Sasuke continued up the tree, making sure his chakra was properly maintained. He climbed higher and higher until he saw the top, "don't get excited," he thought, "just stay calm." His foot met the top of the tree as he stopped his momentum and grinned.

Sasuke looked around enjoying the same view that Mikomi had a few moments before. He grinned allowing the solitude to take him and sweep him up in its comforting embrace. He stood up there and watched the birds flying around a few of them even fluttered around him curiously. He surveyed his surroundings getting a lay of the land and noting the various buildings of Konoha rising up in the distance. He could even see the Hokage tower from this perch and Mikomi's apartment building. He looked down noting the girls staring up at him and sighed. "Suppose I should get back down there," he thought as he turned on his heels and began to saunter down the tree trunk.

Sasuke put one foot in front of the other as he walked down the tree, "won't do to loose my concentration here," he thought as he continued to walk down the tree. He kept himself erect and walking like he was taught being a member of one of the most respected clans in the village. His calm demeanor and cool look wasn't lost on the girls as he came in to sight of them. He smirked lightly seeing the looks on their faces, a mix of awe and excitement. Sasuke nearly floated down the tree and stepped back on to the ground hands in his pockets as if this were a normal thing for him. He acted as if he had been climbing trees this way all his life and turned to look at the girls with that cool indifferent gaze he was known for.

Mikomi and Sakura both giggled as they saw Sasuke make it to the top of the tree. They watched as he began to saunter on down it like it was nothing, "figures," Mikomi said with a smirk, "figures he had to do it with style." Sakura giggled and continued to watch Sasuke her hands clasped in front of her chest praying for him to make it down safely. Once Sasuke stepped foot back on the ground and turned to look at them, both girls released a breath they didn't realize they were holding. Sasuke looked at them with his usual cold indifference and then glanced behind them. The girls didn't care that he looked passed them they both just felt a wash of relief and happiness come over them. They were both moving before they knew it; they ran up to Sasuke who didn't seem to notice. Mikomi wrapped her arms around Sasuke's left side as Sakura claimed the other side and they both squealed with cheer as Sasuke twitched. Neither girl seemed to care though as they squeezed him tight and congratulated him on a job well done.

Sasuke had noticed something behind the girls and looked at it when he felt them hug him. He twitched as their arms wrapped around him and nearly pushed them off. His hands came out of his pockets and he began to reach up to fend them off. "Wait," he thought as his hands stopped moving, "I kind of like this." Sasuke wasn't exactly sure why he felt the way he did but it definitely was nice. The concept was completely new to the poor boy as he let his hands fall to the sides again and smirked. "Humph," Sasuke breathed with a smirk playing at his lips, this indeed felt good. He wasn't about to let anyone know that but he didn't push the girls off of him like he normally would have. Just being congratulated and complimented on his style was enough to make him reconsider his normal behavior in favor of doing nothing. The fact he wasn't pushing them off was not lost on the girls who let him go soon after they hugged him and grinned at each other. Both girls knew better than to say anything though and besides they felt someone nearby and it was a familiar someone.

Kakashi appeared in a cloud of white smoke looking at his Genin with amusement in his eye. "So," he said, "how is the training going?" All three Genin shrugged and smiled. "It's done," Mikomi said, "we finished it just a few minutes ago. Sasuke nodded his head and stuffed his hands back in his pocket affected his usual bored look. Sakura was just beaming as she agreed with Mikomi, "yeah," she said, "they both just completed it now." Kakashi chuckled at them and grinned, "Really," he said, "Well let me congratulate you all on a job well done." The girls grinned at him as Sasuke seemed interested in the tree they had all just got done climbing not too long ago. Kakashi chuckled again and turned on his heels, "come on," he said, "we have a mission to get." The three Genin followed him without a word, girls smiling brightly.

Team seven sat at Icharaku's Raman and sighed, they were all soaked and grumpy, but Mikomi had convinced them all they needed to stop for a snack before heading home for the evening. "Oi," Mikomi grunted as she picked up her chopsticks, "I feel like a drowned rat." The other two genin simply nodded their heads and began to eat the steaming hot soup. Kakashi had begged off on this one citing a need to go home and prepare something for the three genin. It had annoyed Mikomi that Kakashi left them soaked but she knew she'd feel better with a nice hot bowl of Raman in her gut. Sakura had gotten her usual pork Raman and Sasuke had gotten a beef. Mikomi was the odd one out ordering a nice big bowl of her favorite Raman, the one with all the spices added to it.

The three genin ate their Raman in relative silence thinking on the events of the last month. There had been a huge rush on missions and all the ninja in Konoha had been busy. Team seven hadn't gotten the chance to train at all during the last month thanks to that. Finally the missions had slowed down enough to allow for some training time again and Mikomi was quite glad. She had been to see Lee and his team practice that morning and had even gotten a kiss on the cheek from the "green beast of Konoha" as Lee was called by several people in the village now. She had been in a daze most of the morning thanks to that kiss and failed miserably at keeping herself above water during the water walking exercise that Kakashi had them doing at the stream. She glanced to either side noting the equally soaked genin she was sharing a counter with and giggled lightly to herself. "We all got soaked," she thought, "thanks to Kakashi. I'm glad I have other outfits to wear now." Sasuke glanced at her and raised an eyebrow noting her giggle. Mikomi quickly put on her best innocent look and returned to her Raman.

It had been a couple of days since they had all been sitting in Icharaku's. They were now standing at the edge of the stream at their training grounds and staring at the ice cold water with frowns. None of them had perfected this particular training yet and all were extremely wary of it now. They had all been soaked in ice cold water enough not to be. They all glanced around the woods looking for Kakashi who had conveniently disappeared on them with his book and grumbled. Sasuke, on the other hand, just looked slightly annoyed at the disappearance of their sensei. "Well," Sakura said, "I guess I better go first." Sakura sighed and took a deep breath before focusing her chakra at the bottoms of her feet; she knew that she was in for a nasty soaking if she didn't. She closed her eyes a moment then snapped them open with determination glinting in them and gently stepped out on to the water. She made it about halfway out before she grinned which threw her concentration off just enough that she received a rather unwelcome and cold wake up call. She landed on her rear fairly hard on the water and whimpered at the pain.

Mikomi helped Sakura out of the water after Sakura crawled back to the land, "man," Mikomi said, "this is tough." The other Genin nodded as Sakura sneezed. Mikomi sighed and concentrated the chakra to her feet, she knew she was in for the same as Sakura if she didn't do this right and sighed. "Here goes nothing," she thought as she put one foot on the water. Mikomi took a tentative step out on to the water and stood there a minute concentrating on what her feet and legs were telling her. Unfortunately the Kyuubi's chakra was making it difficult to get a good reading. She had been practicing on keeping in touch with her chakra coil system and had finally noted that the Kyuubi wasn't fully sealed in her. His chakra was leaking out occasionally and messing with her normal chakra. Mikomi frowned at her thoughts before focusing again on her feet and legs. She took another step over the water feeling herself begin to sink on one side and adjusting her chakra accordingly. She had to balance the Kyuubi chakra with her own to make it work, and the Kyuubi's chakra was roughly 10 times more potent than hers.

Mikomi stood there for a moment and adjusted her chakra's concentration so that it compensated for the Kyuubi's and began to move again. She took a few more tentative steps over the water and stopped in the middle standing there. She grinned and turned around to her teammates who were looking at her and waved. She kept the Chakra differences in the back of her mind though and continued to adjust accordingly. She was actually sort of envious of the other two who didn't have a different chakra interfering with their own but she wasn't going to show that. She was just happy she had made it out to the middle without falling on her rear. "Now," she thought, "time to get back to shore. Mikomi began to take steps again making sure she made it look good. She glided across the water like Hinata had taught her to walk in to a ball and finally made it back to shore with the others. Mikomi smiled at them as Sakura hugged her and Sasuke smirked giving her a nod. "Wow," sakura said, "You made that look easy." Mikomi giggled, "It's a lot harder than it looks," Mikomi replied before stepping to the side to allow someone else to try.

Sasuke looked at the girls a moment and nodded, "my turn," he thought as he too focused on his chakra. "Mikomi made this look easy this time," he thought again, "but I watched her and noticed she was only focused on getting the right chakra out. Just like when we did the tree climbing exercise." Sasuke took a deep breath and stepped out on to the water. Sasuke wasn't taking any chances he saw how Mikomi had done it and he was bound to do the same. He focused on what his feet were telling him, and the feel of his chakra flowing through his chakra system. He took another step then another trying to make it look like he was merely strolling through the park after a picnic. Sasuke didn't have the same problems that Mikomi did and made it out to the middle without a problem. He stopped and turned to look at the girls with his hands stuffed nonchalantly in to his pockets before beginning the trek back. He still maintained his focus though; he didn't want to end up rear down in ice cold water, especially not in front of the girls. He stopped a moment to think. "Am I trying to impress them," he thought as the horror of the realization hit him like a ton of bricks, "no I can't be…no way." Sasuke shook his head a moment and continued to walk across the stream lazily. He finally set foot on the bank again and waited there.

Mikomi giggled and nudged Sakura as Sasuke made it to land. Sakura smiled a bit wanly seeing Sasuke complete the exercise before her. Sakura had the best chakra control in her class and yet she was losing to these two so easily on this one. She couldn't figure out why, considering she had completed the tree climbing exercise before they had and she had practiced with this one before they even started.

Sakura was feeling pretty low about the whole thing before Mikomi dragged her in to hug Sasuke with congratulations. Sakura had a feeling Sasuke liked the congratulations, but he never really let on to it. He had allowed them to hug him once before and now this time as well. He stopped pushing them off of him when he realized they were just being happy that he had completed it, and that made Sakura happy. She got to hug her Sasuke-kun but it wasn't enough this time. He had completed the water walking exercise before her and that made her want to get it down quick.

After a few moments of hugging Sakura pushed herself off of Sasuke and out of Mikomi's grip, "how do you two do it," she asked frowning, "I mean…you're getting this and I'm getting soaked." Sakura frowned for a moment before she noticed Sasuke was talking. "You have to quit concentrating on making it to the goal," Sasuke said, "just focus on the feeling of your chakra and how your feet feel." Mikomi nodded in agreement, "yeah," Mikomi said. Sakura looked at them both so willing to help her with advice and smiled, "thanks guys," she said as she hugged them real quick again, "I'll do that this time and make it." Mikomi grinned and said, "Yeah," as Sasuke smirked lightly.

Sakura smiled as the determination lit her eyes and stepped to the bank stopping to focus her chakra to her feet. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes getting a feel for what her feet felt and for what her chakra system felt like as well. This sort of strategy was sort of new to her, Chakra control had come to her naturally. She finally opened her eyes and took a step on to the water; she concentrated on what was going on with her feet and chakra. She took another step and forgot that she had a goal to get to the middle of the water and just continued to walk. She took another step and noticed her chakra was beginning to leach out of her calf and quickly closed up that leak. Her feet never faltered as she walked out on to the water. She came to the middle and stopped to turn around. She looked at her teammates who were watching her, Mikomi was grinning like an idiot. Sakura giggled lightly but kept that feeling they had talked about in the back of her mind. She closed another leak and it made a lot of sense to her. Her chakra control was natural but she had been dealing with slight leaks at various points on her body. This had potential for a few things but she wasn't thinking about those right now. She just focused on walking back to the shore.

When she finally made it to the shore she was hugged by a very happy Mikomi and grinned. "You did it," Mikomi exclaimed, "good for ya." Sakura giggled and returned the hug glancing to Sasuke who was smiling at her. It was slight but she could tell it was there. He was proud of her accomplishment though he'd never admit it. Finally what Mikomi saw made more sense and Sakura was bound and determined to go with what was offered.

Mikomi beamed at her teammates, "I think this calls for a celebration," she said, "and I know Dimchii's isn't too busy right now. Let's go for brunch." The other genin nodded as Mikomi bolted towards town. Sakura giggled as Mikomi bolted and didn't really notice Sasuke walk up beside her. Sasuke stopped next to her, "well done," he said not looking at her then he started walking again. Sakura blushed lightly as she heard Sasuke congratulate her and giggled. She could feel her heart flutter in the aftermath of that affirmation of her value and she smiled brightly. "Sasuke-kun," she thought, "thank you." Sakura shook her head and started after her teammates.

The three genin sat at their usual table pouring over the menus. "Hmm," they all seemed to say at the same time, "what to get." All three were hungry and all three were having a hard time deciding what to get.

Finally, after a few more minutes, they all settled on what they wanted as a waitress walked up and smiled at them, "what can I get you," the waitress said as she took up her ordering pad. The three genin ordered what they wanted to eat as well as their drinks of choice. The waitress smiled and nodded as she headed off to fill their orders leaving the genin to themselves.

The girls took to gossiping about their success and what they thought the other teams were doing as Sasuke kept an eye out for trouble. He had always been a wary person and he was not going to let anyone ruin his teammates' happiness today. Sasuke glanced over to Sakura sitting next to him, he wasn't really sure why he had let her sit there but he had and she was leaving him alone for the most part. He was actually somewhat relieved that she stopped being a fan girl and started being a girl. He liked her more this way, and he had never noticed how cute her hair fell around her face. Sasuke blinked and shook his head, "what are you thinking Uchiha," he thought, "must be because I'm hungry," Sasuke glanced up towards the kitchen letting the thoughts he was having about Sakura fall to the wayside.

Finally their orders came and all three genin dug in quietly. Mikomi glanced at Sasuke and Sakura across from her, she nearly giggled remember the look of confusion as Sasuke offered to let Sakura sit next to him in the booth. She continued to watch subtly as she ate her food, noting the various short glances Sasuke would give Sakura before he snapped himself out of it. Mikomi almost laughed out loud one time when she noticed Sasuke look at Sakura and then blink a few times before shaking his head. Sakura seemed totally oblivious too it staring out the window and sipping on her soda. It didn't take the three hungry Genin long to finish their meals. It also didn't take Mikomi long to decide on keeping quiet about what was going on with Sasuke. She knew it'd only push him farther away from Sakura and both of them needed someone to be with. Unfortunately it seemed Sakura was totally oblivious to the fact that her crush had finally taken an interest in her. Mikomi giggled lightly as she sipped on her tea, she'd let Sakura figure it out for herself.

The three genin were just about to leave when they noticed Kakashi walking up. "Yo," he said as his genin spotted him, "I see you're eating again." Mikomi smirked as Sasuke and Sakura gave Kakashi a very flat look. "Of course," Mikomi said, "we're growing teenagers after all." Mikomi grinned at Kakashi who chuckled, "Indeed," he said, "Indeed." "I hope you three are full then," Kakashi said as he sat next to Mikomi, "we have a mission to get and complete." The three Genin nodded at Kakashi and sighed. Kakashi chuckled, "It's not so bad," he said, "It's a fairly easy mission. We're just going to help Sorsha-sama with her shopping today." Mikomi grinned, she liked Sorsha, and finished tea in a single swig, "let's go," she said waiting for Kakashi to move. Kakashi chuckled and stood up followed by his genin.

"Oh," Sakura said as they were nearly at Sorsha's house, "we all finished the water walking exercise." Mikomi and Sakura beamed as Sasuke smirked lightly. "Oh," Kakashi said, "well that's good." Kakashi smiled and patted his Genin on the shoulders. "I'm going to have to move my reservation for training grounds 39 up a couple of days then," he thought, "it's time for their first test." Team seven made it to Sorsha's house and completed their mission quickly and efficiently before Kakashi let them go home to rest.

It had been a couple of days doing boring missions before Kakashi met his team at their usual spot with a big grin on his face. "Yo," he said waving and going through the usual greeting of him making up a story and the girls calling him a liar. "I have an announcement to make," Kakashi said hopping down to the ground, "we won't be taking any missions for the next day." He inwardly chuckled seeing the looks of confusion his genin had, even Sasuke had that look. Kakashi loved catching his Genin off guard like that, it was amusing. "I have something else planned for you today," he continued wiping the smirk off his face, "follow me." The genin looked at him oddly but complied with his directions following him down the road.

It didn't take them long to get to training grounds 39. It was a sprawling training ground with a wide and fast stream running through it, lots of trees and a few buildings in the center. Kakashi stopped to look his Genin over a moment before he began to speak. "This is training grounds 39," he said without preamble, "it's a large area with some buildings in the middle of it. The buildings appear abandoned but don't let that fool you." He looked over his genin to gauge their reactions; all three had disinterested looks on their faces. He sighed and went on, "there are three scrolls I want you three to retrieve from the buildings in the center." That got their attention as all three looked at him curiously. "Ha," he thought, "got their interest piqued didn't I?" Kakashi looked out over the grounds towards the middle, "There are a few buildings in the middle, your mission is to retrieve the scrolls and bring them back to me." The three genin nodded as they took the information in.

Kakashi paused for a moment taking a breath, "you have to figure out which building the scrolls are in and get them. Be warned you will have to use all of the skills you have learned so far to acquire them. Be warned there are traps everywhere." Once again the Genin nodded in understanding. "You have until midnight to return the scrolls to me here," Kakashi said, "remember there are many ways to get past a trap, but not all are good solutions." Kakashi looked over his genin again and then at the sun, "it's roughly 8AM," he said, "you have a lot of work to do before midnight. You better get going."

Mikomi smirked as Sakura tightened her pack and Sasuke popped his knuckles. "By the way," Kakashi said, "if you don't successfully complete this mission, I won't show you my surprise." The three Genin looked at him as he smiled, "get going," he said. The three genin nodded and ran in to the undergrowth. "Good luck," Kakashi thought, "you'll need it."

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A/N: Sorry for the wait here, I do have chapter 8 being worked on. Unfortunately my BETA's had to resign due to medical problems. So if you all could, give Aengus and Noriko a PM letting them know they are in our hearts for a quick recovery.

I am currently looking for a good BETA so if any of you are interested, please give me a PM. And as always: review, review, review.


	8. Chapter 9

Uzumaki Mikomi

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A/N: I apologize for the incredibly long wait. I'm glad some of you have decided to stick with me through this "Calculus and I do not get along" time. But now, without further ado, Chapter 8 for your reading enjoyment!

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Chapter 8

"It's 8AM," Kakashi said looking at the sun, "and you have a lot to do before midnight. Get going." The three genin disappeared in to the underbrush.

Mikomi reached out with her senses, she had to make sure she knew exactly where her teammates were. "Sakura to the right," she thought, "Sasuke just ahead." Mikomi smirked as she noted Sasuke was ahead of them, he always was one to go at it first and get it done. Mikomi peaked from her hiding spot and got a look around. Noting there was nothing around to worry about she decided to climb the nearest tree to get an idea of the lay of the land. She found the nearest tree and planted her foot on it; she had gotten better at this in the last couple of days. It wasn't near as hard as before and she didn't have to concentrate on the chakra flow. It was pretty much second nature now, she knew it was the same way for her teammates.

Mikomi made it to the top of the tree without a problem and looked around; she decided to stay just below the top to stay concealed. She noted the buildings in the center, though they were sort of hard to make out. She noted the stream where it was supposed to be. She watched the stream for a moment trying to gauge how wide it was and how far off, of course doing that with all the trees in the way was proving difficult. She did, however, figure the target was straight ahead of them and began her trek down the tree to find her teammates.

Mikomi slunk through the underbrush concealing her chakra presence looking for her teammates. It didn't take her long to find Sakura, all three Genin had gotten a feel for each other's chakra signatures no matter how dampened it was. Mikomi made her way to Sakura quietly. Sakura was resting in the hollow of an old tree trunk. "Yo," Mikomi said smiling at Sakura as she approached, "I got an idea of how it's laid out now. Sakura didn't even look up as a grin crept across her face and she took to following Mikomi.

Mikomi and Sakura made their way through the bushes feeling out for Sasuke who seemed to have stopped just ahead. They traveled fairly slowly but made it to Sasuke's position in, what seemed like, no time.

Sasuke was kneeling down looking at something on the ground. The girls crept up behind Sasuke carefully. Sasuke didn't really acknowledge them except for a glance back when he felt them approaching.

He had uncovered a trap and was looking at how it was put together. It appeared to be a trip wire attached to a ring that went up in to the trees; he could only assume it was either a kunai trap or a log trap from the looks of it. He decided it would be best to simply step over the trap after he cleared out more underbrush and forest debris to make sure the rest of the area was clear, it was.

"Yo," Mikomi said as she scooted up next to Sasuke and Sakura took position to his left, "find a trap eh?" Sasuke merely nodded and indicated the trap and where it went as both girls frowned. "I wouldn't have thought they would have traps so soon," Sakura said eyeing the string. Mikomi only shrugged and looked it over, "looks like we can step over it," she said, "Sasuke has cleared the rest of the ground here for us." Sasuke smirked lightly as Mikomi came to the same conclusion he had and nodded, "indeed," he said.

The three genin stepped over the trip wire carefully making sure they had solid footing before they put all their weight on their feet. Luckily they were being careful because Sakura found a pit trap just after the tripwire. The ground just seemed to vanish as Sakura stepped out a little farther than the other two. Her stride was just longer being taller than the other two.

Sakura regained her balance fairly quickly as she stepped back barely missing the tripwire behind them. Sasuke frowned and put a hand out to steady Sakura, which took him and Sakura by surprise. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as Sakura turned a slight shade of pink. Mikomi smirked lightly and began looking around at their surroundings; she noted several trees within range and nodded. By the time Mikomi turned back to look at them Sakura and Sasuke had gained their composure, "let's take to the trees for now," she said, "it seems all the traps right here, are on the ground." Her teammates glanced at her then the tree she indicated. They both gave a nod and all three moved towards it. They made sure to keep the tripwire on one side and the hole on the other.

It didn't take them very long to make it to the tree and climbed it carefully, Mikomi in the lead looking for traps. They made it to the top of the tree without any problems and looked around. All three genin got a good look at the area, though it was still hard to make out the buildings in the center. It didn't take them long to find the next branch they were going to jump to and get moving.

They had covered a good distance before Sasuke stopped short with Mikomi right next to him. Sakura jumped past them still in a slight daze from earlier. "Sakura wait," Mikomi said as she reached out and grabbed Sakura's wrist and pulled Sakura back, she also noted Sasuke did the same.

Sakura gave a grunt feeling herself being pulled back by a painful tug on her arms; her momentum nearly ripped them out of their sockets. "Trap," Sasuke said. Mikomi gave a nod with a slight frown at her long time best friend. "Looks like an explosive note trap," Mikomi said indicating the note nestled underneath some leaves. Only a corner of it could be seen. Sakura frowned and sighed looking at her teammates, who had just saved her life, "thanks," she said feeling a bit ditzy. Sasuke and Mikomi merely shrugged as Sakura made a note to pay more attention in the future. Kakashi had gotten her with his genjitsu because she wasn't paying attention, after all.

The Genin stood on their branch a moment trying to figure out a route to take when Sakura pointed down, "look," she said, "an animal path." The other two looked at where Sakura was pointing giving her an approving nod. "Looks good," Mikomi said as she headed down the tree trunk carefully. Sasuke followed her lead with Sakura hot on their heels.

The three Genin set foot on the ground again and sighed lightly looking around the area. They were on a small animal path that had been cut through the forest by something. Trees towered over them on all sides with dense underbrush on either side of the trail. "Looks like single file," Sasuke said looking at the girls, "be careful." Sasuke took the lead on this one with Mikomi behind him and Sakura taking the rear.

They had only been traveling a couple hours or so when Sasuke stopped short his ears twitching. He thought he had heard something. When Sasuke glanced back to warn the girls Mikomi was already crouched down and Sakura was looking around. Sasuke glanced at Sakura who was paying attention this time around and sighed. Sasuke took the cue from the girls and crouched down a hand on his kunai holster.

They had a bad feeling about the area and decided to take it to the low road. It proved to be the best idea as Kunai began to fly through the air. Sasuke cussed lightly wondering when they had triggered a trap. They found themselves pinned down with more flying steel then they thought possible zinging above their heads. Sasuke and Sakura drew their own kunai and began to deflect what they could while Mikomi created a couple of clones. Mikomi drew a kunai to defend her clones as they disappeared to either side scouting the area.

Sakura deflected a Kunai before it buried itself in to Mikomi's back while Mikomi was drawing a second Kunai. Mikomi's ambidexterity was coming in handy as she spun around quickly blocking anything that came at her.

Mikomi finally spun to her left sending a Kunai whizzing through the air. They heard a thunk and a puppet fell from the brush to lay on the ground motionless. "Puppet squad," Sasuke breathed as he blocked another kunai, "we have to do something about this, and we're pinned down pretty good." Another kunai appeared in Mikomi's hand as she moved to block a kunai before it struck Sasuke in the shoulder. Sakura was pretty busy with her kunai as she deflected everything that came at her; unfortunately it was all she could do at the moment. Sasuke moved quickly as a kunai whizzed past his ear and caught sight of a wooden limb. "Ahha," he thought as he deflected another kunai. Sasuke heard the clash of steel as Mikomi blocked a kunai aimed at him and another that nearly embedded itself in to Sakura's head. "Just a little more time to find out where they are," Sasuke thought as he noted a couple more wooden limbs.

Unfortunately, with both her hands busy blocking for her teammates one kunai got past her guard and Mikomi felt it bite in to her thigh. She yelped and gave a hiss of pain as the kunai scratched her bone. Sakura and Sasuke glanced at her just as she collapsed to the ground, her leg unable to support her weight suddenly. Sakura gasped as Sasuke cussed moving with lightening speed to block a few more kunai going for Mikomi's head, "thanks," Mikomi said looking a little peeved she actually got hit. Luckily the kunai had stopped flying at them so thickly, as if the puppets were running out of ammunition. Sakura took the opportunity to pull the kunai out of Mikomi's leg and bandage up the wound. Once she was done Sakura helped Mikomi back to her feet. Mikomi grunted as she put weight on the leg but it held out. "You're right," Mikomi said dodging another kunai, "we gotta do something, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked at Mikomi quietly, a questioning glance. Mikomi's answer was simple, a foxy grin and a nod. Suddenly Sasuke jumped in to the air flashing through a series of seals he was intimately familiar with. Mikomi was right in front of him blocking the Kunai that came at him. Sakura actually cussed, which was unusual for her, as the two flew in to the air and began throwing her surikens and thanking Kami she had practiced throwing surikens so much that she could hit a moving target at a few hundred feet away.

Finally Sasuke's seals were done, "Kaiton: Gakyuu no jitsu," he said as a large fireball engulfed the area. Five puppets came crashing out of the underbrush burning and the kunai assault was over. The smoke cleared and all three genin sighed with relief, Sakura jumping down from the tree she had jumped in to the avoid Sasuke's jitsu.

Sasuke and Mikomi landed, Sasuke catching Mikomi before she fell down again, having a badly wounded leg now. Sakura began collecting as many kunai as she could find. "Just in case," Sakura said handing some of the kunai to her teammates, "we may need more than we brought with us later."

Sasuke grunted lightly as he supported Mikomi. Sakura looked at Mikomi and Sasuke as she handed them the extra kunai she had found thanks to the puppets. "Can you continue," Sasuke said looking at Mikomi. Mikomi looked at Sasuke and gave another foxy grin, "Hell yeah!" Mikomi let go of Sasuke and stood upright. "Then let us continue," Sasuke said as he put the extra kunai in to his pack. Sakura followed Sasuke's example and stashed her extras. Mikomi, on the other hand, produced a couple of extra kunai holsters from her bag and strapped them on with a grin. "Always be prepared," Mikomi said, placing the extra kunai into the extra holsters, "isn't that what Iruka always said?" Sasuke just smirked as Sakura giggled and the three continued their trek.

The journey to the river was rather uneventful for the three; they dodged a couple more obvious traps and stood at the banks of the river in a couple of hours. "I think it's time to take a break," Sakura said as Mikomi finally caught up to them.

Mikomi limped up to her teammates. Her face was dark with pain as she flopped down in to the grass near a large tree. "Damnit," she cursed gripping her leg where the wound was. She hissed as her hands wrapped around the wound and bloody bandages, "I think I reopened it," she said. Sakura sat next to her as Sasuke scouted a place to rest for a bit and examined the wound. Sakura frowned as she peeled back the bloody bandages. It took Sakura a moment to get over the worry before she went about rewrapping the wound with clean bandages, "we should rest for a while," Sakura said.

Sasuke came back to the spot in a few moments, "I found a good spot to rest," he said as Sakura helped Mikomi up. He moved to Mikomi's other side and helped move Mikomi to the spot he had found.

Sakura and Mikomi blinked a couple of times as Sasuke looked at them. He only gave a blank look to them as he started to move with Sakura a step behind him.

Sakura and Sasuke set Mikomi under a tree. The tree was incredibly large and the roots were above ground, giving them a wooden cave.

Mikomi grunted as they set her down. Sakura gave Mikomi some water and stepped outside the cave to look around while Sasuke jumped up in to the branches and got a good view of the area.

Sakura glanced at Mikomi a few times as she waited for Sasuke to come back down with a worried look. Mikomi simply replied with a grin and a sheepish scratching of the back of her neck. Sakura glanced behind her as she felt a presence she recognized.

Sasuke landed softly behind her and sighed scratching his head. "It's all clear for a ways," he said softly as he glanced back at Mikomi with a slightly worried frown on his face. Sakura was caught off guard again as she noted worry on the stoic Uchiha's face. They stood a couple of minutes in silence looking out across the river and taking a couple of steps closer. Finally Sakura sighed and looked over at Sasuke whispering to him, "Think we should call it quits," she asked him with a concerned glance back at Mikomi who was sitting there eating a banana. Sasuke glanced at Sakura and then back at Mikomi before fixing his eyes on Sakura. "I would ask her," He said thrusting his thumb back towards Mikomi, "I will if she needs to." Afterwards Sasuke looked back over the river while Sakura thought about it and finally gave a nod, heading back in to the shelter.

Sakura sat next to Mikomi and grabbed the water to take a drink. Mikomi smiled over to Sakura, "Heya," Mikomi said as she tossed the banana peel to the back of the shelter, "what's up?" Sakura stopped drinking the water with a slight frown, "well," she said looking at Mikomi, "I was thinking, with your injury and all, that we should maybe quit and get you to the hospital." Sakura looked Mikomi in the eyes and waited for her reply.

Mikomi frowned and took a few seconds to think about it, "No," She said, "I'm fine, really." Mikomi gave Sakura a smile as Sasuke walked back in to the shelter. "Guess that answers the question," Sasuke said as he sat next to Sakura getting a drink from the water canteen.

Sakura sat there in silence for a few moments before she sighed and gave a nod to her teammates, "alright," she said, "but we should stay here a few hours and let Mikomi recuperate some." Sasuke and Mikomi gave her a nod in agreement.

Mikomi sighed and lay back on the ground wincing at touching her leg, "owe," she grunted. Sakura looked at Mikomi with a smirk, "tired," she asked as Sasuke glanced towards Mikomi. Mikomi merely gave a nod and a foxy grin, "either of you mind," Mikomi asked. Sakura shook her head and looked at Sasuke who just shrugged like he didn't care. Mikomi smirked lightly and closed her eyes, quickly falling asleep for a nap.

Sakura sighed and looked at Sasuke, "it's a good idea," she said indicating Mikomi, "she needs the rest to recover." Sasuke just gave a nod and stood up brushing off his shorts. "I'm going to go keep a look out," he said as he headed for the opening, "rest if you want to." He disappeared in to the branches of the tree after saying that. Sakura sighed and gave a nod covering Mikomi with an extra outfit she had brought just in case her current one got damaged badly. Then she leaned up against the back of the shelter with the intent to take a short nap herself.

Sakura sat back up after about a half hour with a sigh, "can't sleep," she thought as she looked towards the entrance again, Sasuke hadn't come back yet. Sakura stood up and brushed off her back and butt with a grunt and stretched. "Oh man," she thought, "this is dull." Sakura coughed and walked toward the entrance.

Sakura looked up in to the branches after making it to the entrance and stepping in to the early afternoon sun. She noticed Sasuke sitting on a branch looking towards the buildings and frowned lightly. "He seems to be always alone," she thought, "it's kind of sad, I'd love to be his friend but he doesn't let anyone get close." She sighed keeping an eye on him for a few moments before squaring her shoulders. "I'll go talk to him some," she thought as she leapt in to the branches, "as a teammate and friend."

It only took Sakura a couple of minutes to land behind Sasuke who glanced back at her with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Weren't you going to take a nap, like Mikomi," he asked. "Yeah," Sakura said, "but I couldn't sleep." Sasuke shrugged at that and looked back over the river with Sakura looking at the back of his head a few minutes. "Hey," she said softly, "Sasuke?" Sasuke glanced back at her with his usual straight face.

Sasuke noted Sakura's slight smile and curious expression. "Great," Sasuke thought, "she's going to pry or, worse yet, fawn all over me again." Sasuke gave a sigh that didn't go far and gave Sakura his patented straight, uninterested face. It only took her a couple of moments to think of something to ask.

"Sasuke," she asked, "do you mind being called Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke frowned lightly and surprised himself with his answer, "I don't care what you and Mikomi call me." Sasuke and Sakura both blinked once or twice, though he recovered from his surprise faster. "O...oh," Sakura stuttered with a slight blush, "I see." Sakura fell silent looking out over the river towards the buildings with a pretty smile. Sasuke smirked lightly seeing that smile on Sakura's face before he shook his head and frowned again. "What the," he thought, "what did I just say, and what am I thinking." He grunted lightly and looked out over the water again, giving the occasional glance towards Sakura and that smile of hers.

They sat in relatively comfortable silence for about a half hour watching the area around them. Sakura had noticed a spot where the wild animals of the area forded the river, at a shallow place, and pointed that out to Sasuke.

Sasuke sat thinking over his recent reactions to the two girls he had on his team. He came to a single conclusion, they had made his "tolerate" list and that's why he was more open to them. Sasuke gave a sigh and nodded as Sakura indicated the animals and took note of it. The area wasn't too far off, and gave them a reason to not expend too much energy.

"So," Sakura said as she took out a couple more snacks, "want to eat something?" Sasuke looked at her and gave a nod, "sure," he said. Sakura smiled again tossing him an apple, "I found the place Mikomi goes," she said shining her apple against her dress, "they are, surprisingly, reasonably priced." Sasuke gave a grunt and bit in to his apple with a soft crunch and ate it as he peered at Sakura. He apparently didn't realize he was staring some but Sakura noticed it and began turning a slight shade of red as she ate her apple glancing around in slight embarrassment.

Sasuke tossed their apple cores in to the water after offering to dispose of Sakura's for her. She blushed lightly again and smiled again when he had offered, he sighed and pretended to be perturbed but he was actually beginning to like seeing her smile like that. He vague recalled that she hardly ever smiled as sincerely in school. It was always like she was smiling just because the instructors expected it, not because she had felt happy.

Sasuke looked at Sakura again for a few moments before he finally spoke again. "You know," he said, "I don't remember you ever smiling like that in school, what was going on?"

Sakura frowned lightly; she thought he was going to ask something simple, not a question like that. Sasuke's eyes were so piercing too; she didn't believe she'd get away with lying to him like most other people. He reminded her of Mikomi in that way, when Mikomi wanted a truthful answer it was like she was looking straight through you to your soul.

Sakura took a long time to come up with an answer, "I…I just…well," Sakura stammered trying to give him an honest answer. She hated to bring up her personal life when Sasuke had such a bad life, but he didn't give her much of a choice in the matter with those piercing brown eyes. Sakura sighed and lowered her eyes, "well," she said, "after dad died, mom was really depressed. I tried to cheer her up but nothing worked, I guess I was just depressed too." Sakura shrugged lightly looking at Sasuke, "it was really bad while I was in school," she finished with a sigh and a tear. Sasuke took a few moments to process it all before nodding, "I see," he said reaching out and squeezing Sakura's shoulder. It took him by surprise as usual, but he didn't care this time. He had finally met someone who had a slight idea of what it was like to loose a parent.

Sakura and Sasuke sat in silence a long time. Finally, Sakura looked at Sasuke and smiled, "thanks," she said. Sasuke gave her a rare smile, but quickly hid it behind his usual stoic expression. The fact he smiled wasn't lost on Sakura though and it made her smile more, giving his hand a pat. "I kinda know how you feel," Sakura said to Sasuke, looking him in the eye, "I want you to know that Mikomi and I will always be around for ya." Sasuke grunted at her with a slight smirk, looking her in the eye. He wondered why he felt a little short of breath looking in to her green eyes, before they knew it they were leaning in slightly towards each other.

"Hey," Mikomi said as she landed behind them both with a big foxy grin, "whatcha two doing?" Sasuke blinked a few times before noting how close he was to Sakura and quickly leaned backwards with a slightly shocked look. Sakura, for her part, looked just as shocked as Sasuke, "Umm…errr," Sakura stammered. Sasuke looked at Mikomi somewhat blankly as Sakura stammered her reply and gave her a flat look. Mikomi giggled lightly and shrugged, "I'm ok now," Mikomi said standing upright, "just needed a little rest and some food." The fact that Mikomi didn't say anything about finding them at that particular time was not lost on the two and they both silently thanked her for it.

"Anyways," Mikomi continued, "I'm all good now, why don't you two get some rest and eat something while I keep watch?" Mikomi looked down at them with that grin still on her face. Sakura and Sasuke just gave her a nod and stood up.

Kakashi was jumping from roof to roof looking for someone; he had left as soon as he had felt his team's chakra signatures vanish in to the trees. "Those three have gotten pretty good at hiding their chakra signatures," he thought as he landed on the roof of Dimchi's, "I'm actually slightly impressed." He glanced around with a sigh, "I know he's somewhere," he said aloud as he jumped to the next roof. Kakashi was going over a list of people he wanted to talk to as he landed on the next roof, silently thanking Kami that the people of Konoha liked roof tiles that offered good footing.

Kakashi landed on Mikomi's apartment building roof and stopped there to take a break. "Might as well check her apartment," he thought, "while I'm here." Kakashi walked across the roof looking for a familiar window, he had used that window to check up on Mikomi more than once. Since that assassination attempt in the hospital he had been checking on Mikomi at least twice a week or more. Generally it'd be at night when she was asleep; she had an amazing ability for noticing him there if she was awake. She had even offered to feed him a few times.

Mikomi was an amazing, cook he had found out, when making something other than ramen. He had even dropped by after a couple of his personal missions for supper because she cooked so well. Kakashi shook his head, "not what I'm her for this time," he thought as he deftly opened the window and stepped in to her apartment.

Kakashi glanced around Mikomi's living room with a frown; he hated seeing how she lived. Her couch was ratty, her TV had broken rabbit ears and she used an old card table with a block under the one leg because it had been broken. He figured Mikomi's furniture had been dug out of some dumpsters when she was younger, he wondered why she hadn't bought any more furniture since she was getting paid fairly regularly now. Kakashi decided to investigate that later, and moved further in to her apartment.

Kakashi glanced at the stove where she made all that good food she could make and sighed, only one of the burners worked on it. So she had to cook the meals a dish at a time. He gave a quick glance at the refrigerator she needed to replace a long time ago, "seriously, where is all her money going," he thought as he moved passed the fridge and in to the hall. Suddenly his eye snapped up, he felt something. Kakashi quickly moved with his back to the wall adjoining Mikomi's room, drawing a kunai. He began to slide along the wall quietly masking his presence. He slowly came upon her bedroom door which was slightly ajar and heard a couple of voices from inside it.

Kakashi leaned towards the door listening to the voices, he couldn't make anything out other than there was a man and a woman, "wonder who's here," he thought with a slight frown, "well going to find out soon." Kakashi made a couple of seals and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi appeared in the corner of the room, he registered where the intruders were and threw two kunai at them. Unfortunately, as soon as the kunai left his hands, he recognized both signatures. He heard the sound of kunai getting deflected and someone calling his name. "Whoa," the male voice exclaimed, "hold on Kakashi!" Kakashi looked at the two intruders with a raised eyebrow. "Iruka," he asked as he shifted from his fighting stance to a more relaxed one, "what are you doing here?" Kakashi looked at Iruka after speaking and waited patiently for his reply noting the other presence with mild interest. "Cleaning," Iruka stated as he walked up to hand Kakashi his kunai back, "I come in once a week to clean up for Mikomi, done that ever since she was a kid."

Kakashi took a couple of minutes to process that and nodded, "and why's Ankho here," he asked eyeing the sadistic Konoichi, who had a rather amused look on her face.

"Well," Iruka said grinning sheepishly with a slight blush, "you see, since Mikomi began to grow… I've been having Ankho come in to take care of the laundry." Iruka cleared his throat and stepped back while Ankho chuckled, "I handle the… unmentionables," she said looking at Kakashi, "which you happen to be standing on, by the way." Ankho indicated Kakashi's foot as he looked down and blinked a few times. "Ahh," Kakashi said as he moved, removing his foot from the middle of a pair of panties, while clearing his throat, "I see."

Ankho smirked as she moved over to him and made a big deal of picking them up while Kakashi glanced around the bedroom. "At least she's got some new sheets," he said, "that's good. "Indeed," Iruka replied stepping towards the door, "how about we go in to the other room and let Ankho take care of this, eh?" Kakashi gave a quick nod and headed out the door behind Iruka.

Iruka and Kakashi walked over to the couch where Iruka took a seat and looked at Kakashi curiously, "what's up," Iruka asked. Kakashi looked at him blankly, "what do you mean," Kakashi asked as he sat on the arm of the couch and relaxed. "Well," Iruka replied, "I figured something was up because you're here when you have her out on a training mission with the rest of your team." Kakashi smirked lightly, "nothing gets by you, Iruka," he chuckled as Iruka smirked, "actually I wanted to talk to Ankho as well, so I'll wait until she's here too." Iruka gave a nod and leaned back in the ratty couch. "Besides," Kakashi continued, "I heard you two were an item, but I didn't know if it was true or not." Iruka chuckled and gave a small blush, "Yeah," Iruka said, "Ankho and I have been dating for about a year now." Iruka shrugged as Kakashi gave a nod. "Ah," Kakashi chuckled, "I see." The two men sat in relative silence while they waited for Ankho to get done.

It only took Ankho a few minutes to get back out in to the Living room, laundry basket in tow. "So," she said setting the basket on the couch next to Iruka, "what's up Kakashi." Ankho looked at Kakashi curiously as he stood up and sighed. "Have either of you heard about what happened at the hospital," he started, "after the botched jitsu incident, with Mikomi?" Iruka and Ankho shrugged and shook their heads, "no," they said. Kakashi frowned darkly nodding, "I figured as much," he said looking at them, "There was an attempt on Mikomi by an outside shinobi posing as a doctor."

Iruka frowned darkly while Ankho looked thoughtful. "Damn it," Iruka exclaimed as he stood up and clenched his fists, "the bastards." Iruka cursed a few times pacing back and forth, "She hasn't done anything to anyone," he said grumbling, "and yet she's attacked, why? Because of that damn fox sealed in her." Kakashi looked at Iruka flatly, "indeed," he said, "but we have to figure out who ordered the hit." Kakashi looked at Ankho who seemed to be catching on quickly.

"An inside job," Ankho finally said after a few minutes looking back at Kakashi. Kakashi gave a slight nod and looked at Iruka who just cussed more and flopped down on the couch. "I need your help," Kakashi said, "I'm not in town all the time like you two are, and you have a few connections in town, Ankho, which is why I wanted to talk to you." Ankho gave a nod, "I do," she said, "but I'm sure the ones responsible are keeping quiet now that it failed." Kakashi gave a nod at that and looked at Iruka, "I felt you should know," he said, "you're the closest she has to a father. I also figured you'd be willing to investigate with us, but you have to stay calm during it all." Iruka nodded and sighed rubbing his temples after he unclenched his fists, "I know," he said, "and I'm willing to help out."

The three sat in relative silence while they all took mental inventory of where they might find information and who might be responsible. "In any case," Kakashi said looking at Iruka and Ankho, "The Hokage is behind this investigation, so we can investigate easily." Iruka and Ankho gave a nod and sighed. "Is Ibiki in on it yet," Ankho asked as she looked out the window Kakashi had entered by. Kakashi shook his head, "no not yet," he said, "Ibiki was the next name on the list." Ankho nodded, "let me ask him," she said, "he and I go way back." Kakashi smirked lightly and gave a nod, "alright," he said. "By the way," Kakashi added, "how did you two get in?" Kakashi looked at the window. "Oh," Iruka said chuckling lightly, "I have a key; Mikomi gave it to me a long time ago." "Ah," Kakashi said chuckling, "I see."

Kakashi stood up and stretched his back, "well I'm glad someone can check in on her often," he said, "very glad." Iruka smiled and nodded, "Of course," he said, "I've actually come in and watched her sleep when she was younger."

Ankho and Kakashi gave Iruka odd looks for a moment.

"Well," he continued looking a little sheepish, "like you said she's like my daughter, in fact I'd be more than happy to have her as a daughter, if I could." Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Iruka, "Oh," he asked. Iruka nodded, "yeah, but I wasn't making enough to support a kid when she was younger and now she's too old for it," Iruka said, "so I just keep an eye on her." Kakashi gave a nod with a smirk, while Ankho chuckled. "I really need to meet this kid," Ankho said, "the kid Iruka wishes was his daughter and the one the great calm and cool Kakashi is willing to fight for." Kakashi gave Ankho a curious look and shrugged, "she's a good kid," he said noncommittally. Ankho smirked as Iruka agreed with Kakashi.

Ankho picked up her basket and sighed nestling it against her hip, "well I have some laundry to take care of," she said looking at the two men, "close the window on your way out Kakashi." Kakashi chuckled looking at Ankho, "Of course," he said, "anyways, either of you seen anything unusual in her apartment when you come in?" Iruka and Ankho shook their heads, "I think people know we come in every week," Ankho said, "so I doubt anyone would try anything in her apartment." Kakashi gave a nod, "true," he replied walking towards the window. Iruka frowned at the idea of someone trying something on Mikomi in her apartment but stood up and walked towards the door. "We'll look in to it as best we can," he said as Kakashi climbed out the window. Kakashi grunted his reply and closed the window behind him before vanishing to the rooftops again. Ankho and Iruka looked at each other and sighed heavily, stepping out of the Apartment. Iruka made sure the door was closed and locked before they left.

Mikomi's leg was working better when the three genin found the spot Sakura had seen the animals crossing earlier. The sun was lower than before, they figured they had all rested for an hour longer than they had planned on but were in no hurry, they still had several, hours until midnight. They were being very cautious now, since the attack by the puppet squad had taken them all completely by surprise. They looked around the area for seals or markings, as well as tripwires and other basic traps. Their progress was slow, but they weren't walking in to any more traps, this mission.

Mikomi set foot on the opposite shore first, her leg completely better. The Kyuubi seemed to have healed her injury, but she wasn't going to mention it to the others yet. It wasn't that she didn't trust them, but she was worried they'd request to be removed from her team if they knew. Mikomi looked around as she stepped to a tree and hid behind it, a kunai in either hand and ready to be thrown if need be.

Mikomi's mind raced back to the moment she stopped Sakura and Sasuke from doing something they'd both probably regret in the future. She smirked though, she was glad they were getting along so well, though she knew it was becoming something more. She knew neither one of them had a clue what was going on at that moment; she figured both their minds were probably blank at the time. It's not that she was so good at reading people, but she had been there with Lee. Though, that time, Gai had stopped them from doing anything they'd regret, and she got a nice talking to from Kurenai for it. Thankfully Kurenai had explained it to her fairly simply and she understood what Kurenai was trying to say. Unfortunately at the time she stopped Sakura and Sasuke she really wished Lee had been there with them.

Mikomi shook her head with a giggle, "Can't be thinking about that," she thought, "when we have things to do." Mikomi returned to looking in the immediate area for traps.

Sakura stepped on to the opposite bank and immediately found cover in some bushes nearby, her suriken at her fingertips as she quietly surveyed the area. She couldn't get her mind off of the look Sasuke had on his face when they were talking in the branches. His eyes had been so intense for a little bit when he was comforting her after she confessed the loss of her father. She hadn't even told him how or when, but he seemed to understand how she felt at the time. She had wanted to close the gap between them further with those tears in her eyes, she wasn't sure exactly what she would have done but she knew she wanted to. Luckily Mikomi had interrupted them, because it had cleared Sakura's mind when she spoke. Sakura shook her head again and frowned lightly, "gotta keep my mind on the task at hand," she thought going back to looking around carefully.

Sasuke was the last on the opposite bank; he jumped in to the tree Mikomi was hiding behind. He had better vision than they did at a distance, so he tried to keep to high ground. He looked around quietly as his mind wandered back to that moment in the branches with Sakura. His mind had been, oddly, blank at the time. He just knew that there was someone who had a hint of the feelings in her that he had for his family.

Sasuke's mind kept replaying the events in the branches again, when he had reached out to pat her shoulder he only wanted to make contact with someone who knew what he had felt, who knew what it was like. Unfortunately, he went blank as soon as she had looked back up at him. The tears in her eyes and the lost but thankful look she gave him nearly shot his heart in to his throat. He didn't understand what was going on at all, all he really recalled well was the fact he wanted to close the distance. He wasn't sure what he would have done, but he knew he had wanted too. He was thankful that Mikomi had stopped anything from happening, but he sort of wished Mikomi hadn't showed up. Sasuke grunted lightly and frowned as he shook his head to clear it. He couldn't be thinking of that right now, they had a task before them and he aimed to see it through with a clear mind. He began to scan the area once his mind had cleared and he could focus again.

None of the Genin noticed anything out of place or unusual so they tested their new warning. The three had come up with a way to warn each other about possible danger without speaking or physically stopping one of the others. The new system was the reason they had left so late, they had worked on the system for the last couple of hours they were resting. It wasn't a very hard thing but they had to make sure their chakra control was perfect for it.

The three had been together for a long enough time that they could detect each others' chakra signatures even while they were being dampened. So they had come up with their system. It was simple, one minor chakra spike meant "stop", two meant "clear". They had to agree on the meaning before hand, true, but it was a good system. Even Kakashi had a hard time detecting their chakra signatures when they were dampening them. In other words, they were more sensitive to the changes in each others' chakra signatures than Kakashi was. Two spikes from all three at roughly the same time let them all know it was clear and they moved out, always moving towards the buildings in the middle.

The three moved with utmost caution, stopping every so often to get a better feel for the land. They passed several copses of trees and checked each one out by expanding their chakra feeling senses as they passed. Luckily they didn't feel anything except a few animals. Even though they were being cautious they made decent time.

The sun was finally setting in the horizon, letting them know it was nearing evening. The three Genin stopped in a copse of trees to take a final meal before they moved on. They selected that particular copse because it offered a decent view of the buildings while blocking line of sight from the buildings to them. They sat down leaning back against one of the trees and fished through their packs. Mikomi was the first to grin and fish out a few sandwiches and some fresh fruit. Sakura followed suit with some vegetables that could be eaten raw and a few pieces of dried meat. Sasuke just pulled out some trail rations and a few soldier pills. They all looked at what each other had to offer the team and nodded. It didn't take them long to divvy up all the food and soldier pills.

Sakura smiled at her teammates and friends biting into an apple first. Mikomi smiled back as she bit in to her sandwich. Sasuke just kept his usual stoic look as he bit in to a cucumber.

The food had good flavor, they all had to agree. Fresh fruits and vegetables with some damn good sandwiches from Mikomi made a meal they were glad to appreciate on a "Mission". Usually they didn't get that kind of fare on missions, and they were all thankful that this was a day long thing instead of days like a few of the missions they had been on recently. "This sandwich is delicious," Sakura said to Mikomi as Sasuke grunted his agreement. Mikomi giggled lightly and gave them a smile, "Living alone forced me to learn how to cook," she said, "I'd actually prefer to eat Ramen everyday, but Iruka keeps telling me that Ramen is not a healthy diet and insisted I learn." Sasuke gave a nod, "yes, cooking is a must for those of us who live alone," he stated rather blandly, "I learned how to cook from my mother." Sasuke gave a shrug after he completed his statement as Mikomi looked at him, "yeah," she said, "Iruka made me go to Kurenai-sensei's house every day she was free to learn how to cook."

Mikomi giggled lightly and scratched the back of her head sheepishly, "Kurenai-sensei is a really good cook and a very patient teacher," she said, "So I learned well. Kakashi-sensei even drops by my place sometimes so he can get good cooking for free, the cheapskate." Mikomi smirked as she referred to Kakashi as a "cheapskate" as Sakura giggled and Sasuke just raised an eyebrow.

The three ate in silence for a couple of minutes before Sasuke broke the silence, "Kakashi-sensei comes to your place often." He asked, sounding a little bit concerned. Mikomi and Sakura looked at him blankly for a moment. The times he actually shows concern still surprised them, though Sasuke had been showing his more "human" side more often lately. "Yeah," Mikomi said, "sometimes, generally when he get's back from a mission late and he knows I'm up." Sasuke and Sakura gave Mikomi a couple of funny looks as she looked at them becoming more and more self conscious, "is there something wrong with that," she asked fidgeting some. "I thought you and Lee were dating," Sakura finally said giving voice to what was running through her mind.

Mikomi looked at Sakura in complete shock, unable to speak for a few minutes as she processed what Sakura had implied. "What," Mikomi exclaimed, "no, Kakashi and I aren't… you know… doing anything like that." She blushed, a bright crimson that went clear to the tips of her ears and looked at her teammates, still in complete shock. Her two teammates gave slow nods before returning to their food, both looking a little embarrassed their minds had gone that deep in to the gutter.

Their meal wash finished in relatively uncomfortable silence. When they had all finished they stood up packing their backpacks and looking at the sky. "I didn't mean anything by… you know," Sakura said looking at the ground, "sorry I implied… you know." Mikomi gave her a nod and a small smile, "it's ok," she said, "no big deal, I understand. Just know that Lee and I are the real thing, I really can't think of anyone else." Sakura gave a nod as Sasuke gave a grunt and they jumped in to the branches, sticking to the low branches to stay hidden.

All three genin looked towards the buildings, which were in plain view from their hiding spot. "I see two shadows moving," Sasuke said indicating the building in the middle, "three of the buildings are connected with one another, the rest are just outbuildings it looks like." Sakura and Mikomi gave a nod. "Fairly simple," Mikomi said, "Infiltrate without getting spotted, I'm willing to bet the two in there are at least chunin level, maybe higher." Sasuke gave a grunt of agreement as Sakura looked at the surrounding lands. "It's pretty clear from all sides," Sakura said, "all the trees and brush are cleared around the perimeter. I also bet there are traps all over the place at the perimeter." The other two gave a nod in agreement. "Since we don't know exactly what we're walking in to it's best to be careful," Mikomi said.

The three Genin sighed and steeled themselves for the task at hand before jumping down from their perch and moving towards the buildings. The Animal paths in the area were actually helping them out a great deal, not all the paths seemed to have been mapped so far. They still maintained an air of caution, though, as they got closer to their target and destination.

The three skirted the perimeter as they got to it, moving around its entire circumference and noting various traps and three chakra signatures. One of the chakra signatures was minor, they assumed it was some sort of animal and disregarded it as a threat.

They moved to the back of the connected buildings and stopped, there were no windows in the back and no means for someone to spot them from inside. "Ok," Mikomi said taking a breath, "They can't see us from here; we could sneak up to the buildings from this side." Sasuke gave a grunt, "true, but I bet they have this area heavily trapped," he stated indicating a few tripwires near the buildings, as well as a couple of seals. Sakura frowned as Mikomi just grinned at Sasuke, knowingly. "We could try," Sakura said pointing to the side of the three adjacent buildings, "coming from over there, sure there's a better chance we'll get spotted, but it's better than coming from the front." Sasuke gave a nod in agreement as Mikomi eyed the front of the buildings.

"Unfortunately," Mikomi said, "the people are in the middle building, if we come from either side we have a building to navigate. Where we could get spotted or sensed before we get to the middle building." Sakura shrugged as Sasuke looked at Mikomi, "why are you interested in the middle building," he asked, "Who cares what building the people are in." "Well," Mikomi replied, "I've noticed the two people haven't moved from that building at all since we've been observing them, the probability our target is in that building is incredibly high." Sasuke frowned a moment then nodded, "your probably right," he stated simply as Sakura looked between them nodding.

"Alright," Sasuke said looking between his female teammates, "I say we come at it from three different angles and meet under the windows of the first building." The girls thought about it a moment then agreed. "Sounds like a plan," Mikomi said giving her usual foxy grin, "I'm heading there from the front then." Sasuke frowned but gave a nod, "I'll come at it from the side of the first building," he said looking at Sakura, "Sakura, you come from the other side." Sakura gave a nod and all three began checking their gear. All three gave a quick nod and separated, "don't get caught," Sasuke said over his shoulder with the slightest of smirks as he vanished in to the encroaching shadows. The girls just smirked back and vanished themselves, it was getting darker by the moment now and they didn't have time to play around.

The three genin made it too the designated meeting place without incident, all three had been extremely careful in moving. Mikomi had even transformed in to a small animal to get close without being spotted. She smirked as she was looking at her teammates, with a relatively smug look on her face. Sakura could only giggle softly at the look while Sasuke just gave Mikomi a flat look. "Ok," he said shaking his head, "I've come up with a plan to get this job done." Mikomi grunted lightly and looked at the moon, "I hope it's relatively quick, it's kind of late," she said, "we're running out of time, and it took us all a lot longer to get here than I had hoped." Sasuke just shrugged, "I know," he said, "but right now focus. Alright, here's the plan. Mikomi you use a couple of clones and transform them in to rodents." Sasuke looked at Mikomi to make sure she was paying attention, she was. "Good," he continued, "send them in to this building here and cause a distraction. Take out the first one that comes to investigate, I have a feeling they won't be expecting a rodent to change suddenly and punch them." Mikomi gave a nod.

"Sakura," Sasuke said looking at Sakura, "you come in from the other building, you're the best at concealing your presence out of all three of us." Sakura gave a nod in reply, "ok," she said. "I'll hide over by the windows and keep an eye on our friends in there, and give the signals. We'll use these," Sasuke finished handing each girl a toy walkie talkie, "ok?" The girls grinned while nodding and Sakura made her way to her position. Sasuke was actually glad neither girl had asked him where he got those.

Sasuke moved in to his position and peered in to the corner of the window, "in position," he said in to his walkie. "Me too," the girls echoed in unison. Sasuke smirked lightly noting they got in to position quickly and without complication. "Alright, Sakura," he said as he glanced back in to the room, "go in first, let us know when you make it to the adjoining door." "Ok," Sakura replied with a nod, though he couldn't see it.

Sakura smirked impishly as she fished out her favorite lock pick set. She had loved the lock picking lessons at the academy; she found it challenging to figure out how a lock works. It was her goal to be able to pick any lock in under a minute. Locks had always fascinated her, of course, and it was her best class at the academy. She aced the entire course with ease; her mom had gotten a bit angry at her when she picked every single lock in the house, though.

Sakura giggled lightly and eyed the lock. The lock itself was rather simple, but she checked around the door for traps just in case. She quickly disarmed a suriken trap and went to work on the lock. It only took her a moment to open the lock, she actually sighed in disappointment at how easy it was. Slowly and quietly she opened the door, after a scan of the room she stepped in closing the door behind her gently. She made sure there was something jammed in the lock though so it didn't lock again.

She snuck through the building and found it, surprisingly, boring. Not a single trap or alarm, anywhere. She sighed as she stepped up to the next door and brought the walkie up to her mouth. "I'm in," she said, "and waiting for your signal, Sasuke-kun." She lowered the walkie and waited.

Mikomi nodded as she heard Sakura's report and formed the shadow clone seal. "Go, Mikomi," Sasuke's voice said crackling over the walkie. Mikomi just grinned lightly and formed her seal, creating about 6 clones. After that all 7 Mikomi's formed the ram seal and changed in to large rats. "Intersting thing about rats," Mikomi thought as she and her clones headed for the door, "they can compress their rib cage and fit in to places their size wouldn't normally allow, little known fact." Mikomi and her clones did just that and squeezed under the door, which was missing its weather seal on the bottom. That simple fact made it incredibly easy to get in.

The Mikomi-rats scurried about for a couple of minutes looking around and noting that this building seemed to be an old storage room. Mikomi scurried up a broom pole and across an old shelving unit, her goal: knocking over a stack of old chairs near the middle of the room. The other 6 Mikomi-rats were hot on her heels.

Two Chunin were sitting in the middle building playing cards when they heard a loud clatter, "the hells," one exclaimed as he stood up and grumbled, "I'll go check it out." The other Chunin gave him a nod, "alright Hayate," he replied, "be careful." Hayate chuckled as he went to the door and opened it. He had to step in to the other building and turn on the light, a faint glow from the very far wall kicked on and he noted the stack of chairs on the floor. He also noted a couple of rats scurrying around. "Damn rats," he said as he moved forward to shoo the rats and pick up the chairs. The rats obliged him and scurried in all directions as he waved his hands and stomped his foot. He shook his head and stooped to pick up the chairs, suddenly he felt something. Unfortunately it was too late as one of the chairs became a blond girl in a puff of smoke and he felt her fist collide with his jaw. He flew in to the air a bit and landed on the ground with a loud thud, out cold. Mikomi's clone giggled and poofed out of existence a moment later, while still in mid air.

The other man heard the thud and frowned, "Hayate," he yelled at the door, "Hayate." He got no reply and cussed standing up and heading for the door. It was times like this he wished the door didn't have a spring that automatically closed it. He opened the door and looked in, he noticed the pile of chairs on the floor and Hayate sprawled out on his back. "Damn," he said kicking the doorstop under the door and heading towards Hayate. As soon as he got to Hayate's side and knelt down a couple of rats shot out from under the pile of chairs and towards the other room, running under his legs. He jumped and cussed as he watched the rats plow through the doorstop, causing the door to slam shut and lock. "Shit," he cussed loudly and sighed, "I'll get it later, and then there's going to be some dead rats lying around." He knelt down next to Hayate and began attempting to wake him up.

Mikomi giggled softly as she released the transformation on herself and the clone that went in with her, dismissing the other clones she left in the storage room. She raised the walkie to her mouth and spoke in to it, "I locked them in the other building, its all clear in here for now." She heard Sasuke acknowledge her statement and give Sakura the go ahead to move forward with the plan.

Sakura stepped in to the room after a couple of seconds, making quick work of the lock to the door. Mikomi had already figured out where the scrolls were, in a locked file cabinet drawer. Mikomi glanced over at Sakura and smiled indicating the drawer. "Should be in here," she said. Sakura just giggled lightly and gave a nod taking out her favorite picks again as she moved towards the cabinet. Sakura eyed the cabinet lock and grinned brightly, satisfied that it was a lot more complex than the doors were. Mikomi gave her a giggle and watched Sakura work. It took Sakura nearly a minute to get the lock open, she was impressed by its quality and made a note to find out who made that filing cabinet for future practice.

Mikomi held up a hand, "let my clone reach in there," she said, "just in case." Sakura nodded and stepped back as the Mikomi clone stepped forward and reached in. They heard a click and the Mikomi clone vanished in a puff of smoke, but the trap that was triggered didn't reset and both girls smirked. Mikomi made another clone and had that one reach in too; it retrieved the scrolls without a problem and handed them to Sakura. Sakura looked at the three scrolls noting the initials: "UM", "HS", and "US", on them. "Hmm," Sakura said, "this one must be yours, this one's mine, and that ones Sasuke-kun's." Mikomi gave her a nod, "ok let's get out of here then," Mikomi said as she moved towards the door Sakura came in, dismissing her clone. Sakura put her walkie next to her mouth and spoke in to it, "objective complete, moving out." There was a grunt of approval on the other end and they left the building. Sakura made sure to close the doors all the way on their way out.

The girls moved quickly to Sasuke's location and grinned as soon as they saw him waiting for them. "All done here," Mikomi said holding up her scroll, with U.M. on it. Sasuke shook his head, "not yet," he said as Sakura handed him the scroll with U.S. on it, "we still have to get out of here, and it's almost 10." The girls frowned lightly and sighed, "True indeed," Sakura said, "we only have two hours to get out of here, let's get going." Mikomi and Sasuke nodded as they stashed their scrolls in the packs and all three Genin headed back the way they came.

They hadn't gotten very far from the perimeter when they heard a dog bay. "Damn," Sasuke cussed, "that was the other chakra signature." The girls grunted in reply as they all picked up speed. "I'll make some clones and transform them to likenesses of us," Mikomi said forming her seals, "we should go a different way and send a group of clones straight ahead." Sasuke and Sakura gave a nod as the three groups of team 7 separated. The three still picked up more speed as they went, popping a soldier pill a piece for the extra energy.

The three had been traveling for about an hour when they felt a few chakra signatures behind them, "damn it," Mikomi said, "they found us." The other two grunted. "Oh wait," Mikomi said, "I see a perfect spot up ahead for me to leave a few clones to give them a hard time of following us." Mikomi smirked as she began to pick up speed getting ahead of her teammates quickly. Suddenly she felt a single chakra spike behind her as she heard Sakura yell at her to wait. Unfortunately it was too late, Mikomi had already committed to jumping between a couple of trees. Mikomi looked at the tree trunks, "shit," she exclaimed as she noticed an explosive note on each trunk, and braced for the explosion.

Sakura and Sasuke had stopped a few trees back when they had tried to get Mikomi to stop. Sasuke had noticed the notes just as Mikomi had began her next jump. He tried to warn her as Sakura yelled at her but it was too late. They both watched as the explosion happened, it was strong enough to blow the tree trunks apart. All they could do was just stare, in shock, as Mikomi vanished in the fireball. "M…Mikomi," Sakura managed to stammer as Sasuke could only look on in total shock. Sasuke's jaw was hanging open and his eyes were as large as saucer plates while Sakura wasn't looking much better.

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I did post up another surprise, granting all my readers a "twofer" two for one, hehe. Unfortunately you'll have to check out my profile and scroll down to see it.

As usual though, please review and let me know how you liked this chapter.


	9. Chapter 10

Uzumaki Mikomi

A/N: Here's the new chapter, read and enjoy. It took me two revisions to get it this way, English teachers are picky, hehe. Anyways, I have an English instructor editing my story now, so I hope it's much easier to read and follow.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, yadda, yadda.

Now without further ado! The newest chapter of Uzumaki Mikomi

Chapter 9

"M… m… Mikomi," Sakura stammered as she watched the trees explode where her friend had been just moments before. Beside her, Sasuke was staring in disbelief. It didn't even look like he was able to move at all.

Sakura's body moved of its own volition. She vaguely thought Sasuke wasn't even preparing for the shrapnel and shock wave coming their way. So she moved in front of him and braced, covering them both. She closed her eyes and prayed that Sasuke was still attached to the tree branch with his chakra and began circulating her own chakra over her skin, hoping to prevent as much damage as possible.

Pain screamed through Sakura's body as she blocked the shrapnel from hitting Sasuke. She grit her teeth and gave a whimper or two as her arms and legs were assaulted by pieces of wood. She vaguely noted she was being driven back by the force of everything imbedding into her limbs, hoping she would last. She felt something touch her back and then she stopped moving. Whatever she had been forced in to was anchored very well. The conflagration only lasted a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity. After it was all over, she felt arms wrap around her gently and someone whispered in her ear, "Sakura," in a questioning tone. It took her a moment to sort through the haze of pain she felt before she could respond. "I'm ok," she hissed as she looked up again. She nearly jumped, feeling Sasuke hugging her from behind.

Sasuke's mind had gone completely blank as he saw Mikomi engulfed in the explosion. He couldn't move at all. In fact he had even stopped his chakra flow to his feet. He could only stare in disbelief. He crouched low solely on instinct to maintain balance. Suddenly his vision had been blocked by something in front of him. He remembered hearing whimpering. He only began thinking again when he felt something push up against his body. He noticed the pink dress and made the connection. Sakura had been forced into him by the shrapnel. He quickly reattached to the tree branch and wrapped his arms around Sakura's waist. They rode out the storm together. A few pieces had lodged in his forearms and hands, but Sakura had taken the brunt of it all. Once it was over he noticed his head was close to her ear and he whispered to her. His whole world nearly folded out from under him when she didn't respond at first. When she finally spoke, he sighed in relief and hugged her.

Two Chuunin stood off in the distance with a single nin-dog standing next to them, watching the whole thing.

"Holy shit," Hayate breathed as he saw the explosion, "we have to stop this exercise and make sure those three are alright."

Izuma was frowning darkly as he began to nod when something further ahead of them caught his eye, a single orange vest. Izuma smirked lightly and shook his head.

"No," he said pointing to the object, "I think it can continue."

Hayate nearly laughed out loud. "She managed to save herself," he said, "That is either one lucky kid, or she thinks fast on her feet."

Izuma gave a nod and scratched the dog's ears. "Still," he continued," let's give them time to recover from that. I think the Uchiha was shocked the most. Thankfully he's got a couple of good teammates."

Hayate gave a nod as he leaned down and placed a scroll around the dog's neck. "Take this to Kakashi," he said patting the dogs head. The dog gave him a nod and jumped out of its tree and ran towards town.

Sakura and Sasuke sat for a long time. Sasuke was holding Sakura tightly. Sakura was feeling rather safe and relieved in Sasuke's arms. Sakura heard Sasuke ask her about Mikomi. She was looking at the scene but there was smoke and debris everywhere and it was making it difficult to see what was going on. Fortunately the smoke was clearing out, finally, and she noticed the orange vest ahead of them. She nearly jumped up and yelled as her happiness overflowed. "She's fine," Sakura said turning her head towards Sasuke, "She's ahead of us."

Sasuke was seeing flashes in his mind of when Itachi had killed his family. The memories were shooting like arrows, but he didn't understand why losing Mikomi might bring these memories to the forefront of his mind. He really had no control over them; no matter how hard he pushed back, one would sneak up behind him and show itself. It took him several minutes to finally calm down. He vaguely recalled asking about Mikomi a few times. He barely heard Sakura say Mikomi was fine and he looked up, looking where Sakura had said to. His eyes were better than his teammates'; actually they were better than he remembered. The smoke was beginning to clear out slowly and he noted the orange vest in the distance. He nearly cried out but his throat was too constricted to allow for that. He just squeezed Sakura in relief and kept an eye on Mikomi. He noticed something odd, Mikomi leaning up against a tree trunk, looking like she was in shock herself. He could see her weights. She had felt the blast enough to break her genjitsu on them. "She's not ok," he said in Sakura's ear when his vocal chords started working again, "her genjutsu is down."

Sakura stood up, gritting her teeth as she ripped large chunks of wood from her limbs. "We need to get to her," she said, "soon." Sasuke gave her a nod and released her.

Mikomi was standing on the branch while her heart seemed to explode from her chest. She knew she had barely survived a large explosion, and she knew she was in pain. Really, all she could think of was the pain. Mikomi grunted as she moved slightly. She had several large pieces of wood lodged into her left side, and both her legs were burned somewhat badly. Everything still worked though and that's all that mattered in her mind. As she looked herself over she felt herself begin to grow calm, enough to sigh and grin lightly. "Why me?" she groaned to no one in particular, pulling a large piece of wood from her side and one from her shoulder. She began to move and fell back against the tree with a grunt. "Guess I'm stuck here," she thought, "at least for now." She sighed and rested against the tree.

Sakura and Sasuke plotted their path. There was a tree that was still solid off to the left and its branches led to the tree Mikomi was in. It took them a moment to focus their chakra after the shock, relief, and pain, but they managed to jump from tree to tree. They landed next to Mikomi. A large piece of wood had pierced her side about where her kidney would be. Sakura frowned darkly, seeing that, and recalled the anatomy classes in school, as she dug out bandages and salves to treat them all. Sakura looked at the wound in Mikomi's side closely, muttering to herself, Sasuke watching with a frown. "Good," Sakura said with a sigh, "It missed any organs, but we need to get out of here quickly." She began treating everyone quickly.

The two Chunin gave a nod of approval.

"She's pretty good at that," Hayate mentioned as he leaned against the tree they were standing in.

Izuma gave him a nod, "Yes she is," he said, "Too bad they aren't taking medic-nin right now." They both gave a grunt at that and sighed.

After a few moments Hayate spoke up again, "You know," he said looking at Izuma, "They wouldn't be given this much time to recover on a mission."

Izuma only shrugged. "This isn't a real mission," he stated, "Besides I think they have earned a break from us. They are just genin and kids for that matter. They'll get the idea eventually. Right now our job is to make sure they are alright before pursuing them again." Hayate gave a nod and coughed a few times.

Sakura finished treating them, "There," she said, "we need to move."

Mikomi grunted at her with a frown, "let's finish this up I can move still."

Sakura stood up and gave Mikomi a nod but still looked concerned, "I don't know how much damage that one caused," she said indicating Mikomi's side.

Mikomi nodded and sighed as she stretched a little bit to test her movement, a hiss of pain issued from her lips. "I hope we don't have to fight," Mikomi said with a grunt, "I don't think I can handle something like that right now." Sakura frowned as she put up her medical supplies, noting that she'd need to get some more after this. The girls turned to get moving but Sasuke surprised them both by stepping up and giving them a hug. They both blinked in total surprise as he just pulled them a little closer, "Don't ever do that again," he said as he released them, "Alright?" The girls just nodded at him dumbly with wide eyes.

The Uchiha had reverted back to his usual stoic calm when he stepped back, "let's get going," he said as he jumped to the next branch, "and hurry. I'm sure our pursuers are still behind us." Both girls shook their heads and looked at each other before moving out right behind Sasuke.

The two chunin grinned at each other as the three began moving away under their own power.

"Well guess the chase is back on," Hayate said as he moved to jump forward. Izuma gave him a nod and chuckled as they both jumped into the next tree. Both men skirted the trees that had exploded and saw the utter destruction those two notes had caused. Even the trees around them looked like porcupines.

"Wow," Izuma breathed, "those three survived this. I'm looking forward to seeing how well they do in the future."

Hayate gave him a nod and they continued on their way. They were actually catching up to the genin when they both felt several objects land on their backs in mid-jump.

They yelled in surprise as several Mikomi-clones landed on them and drove them to the ground.

Up ahead, Mikomi chuckled as she began getting memories from the clones that were dispersed. Sakura and Sasuke glanced back towards the yell that carried across the forest.

"What the hell was that?" Sasuke asked, looking forward again.

"Oh," Mikomi replied sounding innocent, "just our pursuers meeting with the dozen clones I left behind to stall them."

Sakura shot Mikomi a blank look and blinked. "But," she said with a bit of surprise, "your genjitsu is down; I figured you couldn't hold up a jitsu now."

Mikomi only giggled lightly then winced as pain shot through her body. "Nah," Mikomi said through gritted teeth, "I purposefully dropped the genjitsu to trick them."

Sakura just blinked a few times before turning to face ahead again with an amused grin.

Sasuke snorted lightly, "You have a story to tell," he said. Mikomi only gave a nod as she faced ahead too.

Mikomi panted heavily as they progressed. Her body was going numb. Her mind was going blank. She only focused on the goal. She had to complete this mission. She looked at the other two a moment when she could focus her vision. They were glancing back at her, occasionally, when they had time. Mikomi frowned at their apparent over- concern. She hated being the one to slow the team down. She landed on the next tree and her legs gave out. She grunted and nearly toppled from the branch but felt hands grab her arms. She vaguely heard someone say they should rest as she was gently forced to sit down on the branch.

Sasuke looked at the moon and frowned. "We have maybe a half hour left," he said when they stopped. He looked around noting the fence that was around the entire area ahead of them and sighed. "I'm not sure we can make it," he said looking at the two girls, "especially with our injuries." Sasuke was concerned with their condition. He glanced at them both noting the exhausted look both girls had in their eyes. He saw the blood seeping through their bandages. He was hoping their last bandages would hold out for them. He looked at Mikomi with a frown. She wasn't holding out as well as him or Sakura.

Sakura looked at Sasuke with a concerned look. Her face said everything Sasuke needed to know: _We need to get this done, now_.

Sasuke sighed and looked at Mikomi again. She was leaning against the tree trunk with her left arm in a sling and breathing hard. The run had begun to take its toll on her. He didn't know why but he could see her muscles relaxing. He honestly didn't care though, he just knew they needed to get Mikomi to the hospital and quickly. He looked toward their goal, so close yet so far. They had to take it easy on this last leg. He was sure it would take them longer than a half hour to get out. "Let's get moving," he said looking at Mikomi as Sakura helped her up, "we'll take it easy."

Mikomi's head shot up after Sasuke's words registered. "What!" she exclaimed, "We gotta get this done on time. Screw taking it easy." She looked at the other two with determination but noted their looks of concern. "Bah," she said struggling to her feet and getting off of Sakura. "I'm fine. Quit babying me." She stepped to the side and felt her legs begin to give out, but she wasn't going to be the one that slowed them down. She willed her legs to support her weight and moved. "I'm not going to lose," she grunted, "I won't let this stop us. I'm going to be Hokage one day. Let's get moving."

"Damn," Sasuke said under his breath as he moved to catch up. Sakura just frowned darkly and leapt to the next tree, hoping Mikomi wasn't going to fall. In fact she and Sasuke noticed Mikomi picking up speed as red Chakra leaked from her body, slowly.

Kakashi was standing near where he felt his Genin would show up. He let his senses play out over the area and noted three familiar chakra signatures coming his way. Glancing at the moon he noticed time was almost up. "Almost done," he thought, surveying back into the trees with a slightly bored look on his face.

Kakashi had received the note Hayate sent him, saying he should have medical ninja waiting when his team got out of the forest. He wondered what exactly had happened; it was a preprinted note stating medical ninja were needed. He sighed and looked behind him where three medical ninja stood on standby; they all shuffled around and talked amongst themselves. He again glanced at the moon and opened his little orange book, "No sense in worrying," he thought. "I'll find out when they get here." He turned to his bookmark and began reading.

Mikomi cleared the fence in a single leap and landed heavily on the ground in front of Kakashi with a grunt and a wince. Her teammates weren't far behind her, though they landed a bit more gracefully.

Mikomi only knew that she hurt a lot and she was exhausted, so she just rolled with her momentum and fell on her back closing her eyes and breathing heavily. "Made it," she said, "Now I can die."

Kakashi, for his part, looked rather shocked and waved the medical ninja over to her as he put up his book. He stepped aside as one medical ninja ran to Mikomi and knelt down assessing her condition. He looked at his other two Genin who looked beat up but alive. Mikomi just looked half dead. "What happened?" he asked, eyeing Sasuke, who seemed to have received the least injury.

"Exploding note trap," Sasuke said looking at Mikomi. "She barely survived it." Kakashi was frowning as he looked at Sasuke, but something caught his eye.

Kakashi moved closer and blinked once, "Have you noticed that you can see better recently, Sasuke?" he said. Sasuke just gave Kakashi a nod and looked at him blankly while Sakura flopped down on the ground, panting. Kakashi noted Sakura didn't look seriously injured but she sure looked tired. Kakashi decided to talk to Sasuke after his genin had been treated for their injuries. He'd also get the story from Izuma and Hayate who had been close by.

Medical Ninja ran up to the other two genin and began assessing them, sighing in relief as they noticed that the Uchiha was alright. Sasuke was irritated by the attention and glared at the medical ninja, "Help my teammates," he said through tight lips, "and make it quick." Sasuke's tone wasn't lost on Kakashi who noted that it had a bit of a protective edge. The medical ninja frowned at Sasuke but did as they were told, one moving to help with Mikomi while the other squatted next to Sakura and began to treat her wounds. As the green Chakra covered the medical ninjas' hands, Sasuke began to relax. Kakashi grinned, seeing Sasuke being so protective of his teammates and silently thanked Kami that his team was becoming so cohesive.

Kakashi looked up as he felt two more presences coming out of the forest. Hayate and Izuma appeared from the woods and landed in front of Kakashi with grins on their faces.

"Well," Izuma said looking him in the eye, "this team of yours is damn cunning."

Hayate nodded in agreement, looking at Mikomi and frowning. "Is she alright?" he asked indicating Mikomi with a hand.

Kakashi glanced over at the medical ninja who responded, "She'll be fine. The wounds look worse than they are, though I bet she's in a lot of pain thanks to them."

Kakashi looked at the two chunin, "What happened to my genin?" he asked eyeing them both. Izuma sighed as Hayate frowned.

"They changed direction as soon as they noted we were following them," Izuma said, "They went in a direction that was fairly thick and wasn't used very much."

"They found an old exploding note trap that hadn't been removed," Hayate continued for Izuma, "From when that location was used as a storage facility for secure documents."

Kakashi gave a nod and frowned, "I thought all the old traps had been removed," he said becoming thoughtful.

Both Chunin nodded. "As did we," Izuma said, indicating himself and Hayate. Kakashi just frowned darkly and glanced at Mikomi.

"Alright," he said looking back at the two Chunin. "How did they do?"

Izuma chuckled softly at the question as Hayate grinned. "Surprisingly well," Izuma said.

"They out maneuvered us," Hayate said, "And tricked us pretty good."

"Indeed," Izuma continued, "you didn't tell us Mikomi's clones were that believable."

"Or that they could henge," Hayate said, "I went in to the other building to investigate some noise and a chair turned into a little blond girl and socked me good." Hayate rubbed his jaw at the memory, "I was out for a good time after that hit," he said.

"Ahh," said Izuma, "so the rats were Mikomi clones."

Izuma chuckled as he put the pieces together. "If not for the tracking dog you sent us, Kakashi," Izuma began, "we would have lost them in the forest."

Kakashi chuckled lightly, "Why do you think I loaned you that dog?"

Mikomi sat up after her wounds were healed, "Did we make it," she asked looking at Kakashi, "in the time limit you gave us?" The Medical-nin's green chakra receded from Mikomi.

Kakashi glanced at Mikomi and chuckled, "Indeed you did," he said, "with a minute to spare." Mikomi grinned brightly and gave a "thumbs up" as Sakura smiled and Sasuke sighed in relief. "I'm glad," Mikomi said as she began to stand, though the medical ninja placed a hand on her shoulder and told her to stay seated.

The Medical ninja finished treating the team and stood up all at once. All three Medics walked to each other and conferred a couple of minutes before the one treating Mikomi walked up to Kakashi and spoke, "They are all healed," he said, "but the girls suffered from chakra depletion, exhaustion, and injuries." He looked at the Genin, "Even the Uchiha is exhausted," he continued, "So, your team is out of commission for at least two days."

Kakashi sighed and nodded. "I see." He said, "Seems they pushed too hard."

The Medic gave him a nod, "Though," he said after a moment, "The wounds were treated very well. I would like to know which one did that." He glanced at the three who were all sitting next to each other. Mikomi and Sasuke looked at each other then pointed at Sakura, "She did," they both said in unison. The medic smiled lightly and nodded, leaning toward Kakashi to whisper, "You might lose that one in the future," he whispered in Kakashi's ear, "We aren't accepting Medics now, but I know for a fact they will be in the next year or so, so expect to get something from the Hokage requesting Sakura to show up for an interview."

Kakashi smirked and nodded as he leaned back and looked at his team. He scratched his forehead to cover the prideful glint in his eye. The three Medics gave a nod and vanished into the shadows of the night, heading towards their respective homes.

The two chunin looked at each other and then the Genin and chuckled. "You three did well then," they said, "well done." Mikomi beamed as Izuma walked up and patted her shoulder. Sakura grinned brightly herself and Sasuke even smirked visibly. The two Chunin looked at the moon and sighed, "Well, we got gate duty tomorrow, so we'll be going," they said as they bowed slightly to Kakashi and the Genin. "Be well." They vanished in to the darkness, leaving Kakashi with his team.

Kakashi looked them over and smiled. "Well, congratulations, on completing this mission in one piece," he said, chuckling, "and congratulations to you Sasuke."

Sasuke looked at Kakashi blankly, "Huh," Sasuke replied, "what are you talking about?"

Kakashi only chuckled more, "Congratulations on activating your Sharingan," he said holding a mirror up to Sasuke's face. Sasuke looked at his reflection, surprised, as the girls leaned over to get a good look too.

Sasuke's eyes each had a single black mark in them. "Oh, wow," Mikomi said, "You've got these little dots in your eyes, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke tilted his head to the side and blinked. Sakura just smiled at Sasuke and Mikomi grinned, "Yeah Congratulations," they said. Sasuke looked up at Kakashi curiously and Kakashi chuckled. "Generally," Kakashi said after a moment, "the sharingan activates during times of extreme stress and heavy focus. You must have been looking pretty hard after Mikomi vanished in that explosion." Sasuke nodded after a moment then smiled but covered it up quickly. Mikomi and Sakura giggled lightly as Kakashi snickered. "Anyways, now to the objective of the mission," Kakashi said, "open those scrolls."

The three Genin fished the scrolls out of their packs and looked at them curiously. "We assumed the initials on the front meant who the scroll was for," Mikomi said, looking at Kakashi, who just gave her a nod. All three genin gave nods in return and opened the scrolls carefully. Each had a series of hand seals in them and a name, except for Sakura's which contained two sets of hand seals and two names. The Genin looked at their scrolls and, finally, looked at Kakashi with curious expressions. "Alright," Kakashi said, "each scroll contains the new technique I intend to teach each of you." The Genin grinned, except Sasuke who just looked stoic.

"Sakura," Kakashi continued, "you have two because your teammates already have techniques they can use, and you are the weakest in repertoire of techniques." Sakura gave a nod and frowned lightly. Kakashi smiled reassuringly, "Your techniques are Dispel and Shimmer. Dispel is a technique that releases a genjitsu placed on you or someone else. It's fairly simple and very versatile. The other one, Shimmer, is a genjitsu technique. It creates a slight haze in your opponents' vision. It basically leaves a trail as you move, so it makes it hard to pinpoint your exact location. It can be used for multiple people but that requires more chakra." Sakura grinned and nodded as she rolled up and stashed her scroll.

"Next," Kakashi said looking at Mikomi, "the technique I will teach you is the whirlwind technique you attempted a while ago, though I intend to teach you the proper way to use it. It's very useful and creates a whirlwind that can be used to distract or trap an opponent."

Mikomi grinned brightly but had the intelligence to also look sheepish at her previous mistake. "Thank you Kakashi-sensei," she said, "I, honestly, wasn't sure if you'd even consider helping me with it after the incident."

Kakashi shrugged lightly and gave her a nod, "I will," he said, "but I'm going to be very strict with it."

Mikomi sat up straighter and gave him a salute, "Yes sir," she said and then grinned at him. Kakashi chuckled again. "Finally," Kakashi said after a moment, "Sasuke, yours is called Phoenix Fire."

Sasuke gave Kakashi a nod, "I see." Sasuke said, "Father never had time to teach me that technique." Sasuke sounded bitter and dark when he said that but Kakashi decided to leave it alone for now.

"Indeed," Kakashi said, "It's a more complex technique than the Grand Fireball. It involves creating several smaller fireballs and sending them at the enemy. It will take more chakra control. Instead of simply forcing all the chakra out at once, it requires you to do it in small bursts. It is easier to aim, though, and you can adjust the technique's flight path as you go." Sasuke gave him a nod and stashed his scroll away, making a mental note to start practicing as soon as he got home. Kakashi shook his head lightly seeing the look on Sasuke's face.

Kakashi smiled. "Well," he said," aside from Mikomi's mistake, you all did well." Mikomi frowned and stared at the ground. Kakashi nodded, noting this, and sighed. "Dismissed," he said, "go home and recuperate. I expect to see you all at training ground nine in three days time to start your training with these new techniques." The three Genin stood up and began heading towards town, except Sasuke.

Sasuke waited for the girls to vanish in the night shadows before striding over to Kakashi and looking at him with a frown. Kakashi looked down at Sasuke with a raised eyebrow, "Something on your mind Sasuke?" he asked.

"I need to get stronger," Sasuke said, "if it weren't for those two, this mission would have failed. Sakura saved me from that flying wood and Mikomi took a Kunai to the thigh for Sakura and me." Sasuke looked up at Kakashi again, his eyes back to normal.

Kakashi sighed, "Listen Sasuke," he said, "I know you want to get stronger, but you can't push yourself too hard. Get some rest for now and I can promise you will get stronger. But strength isn't something you can rush."

Sasuke grunted at him and sighed. "I did want to ask something else." Kakashi gave a nod and waited for Sasuke to continue. "I wanted to know what you know about Mikomi and Sakura," Sasuke said, "their histories, that sort of thing."

Kakashi was taken aback by the question, the famously cold as ice Uchiha asking about his teammates' past. Kakashi recovered quickly, though, and frowned lightly, thinking.

"Well," Kakashi said, "Mikomi didn't have any parents and lived on her own. Don't know much more about her. Other than that, the Hokage sort of took her in as his grandchild and Iruka is like a father to her." Sasuke gave a nod and waited.

"Sakura's father died on a mission when she was young. She was about six, I think. Her Mother was in a depression for a couple of years after that and it affected Sakura a lot more than she lets on. Finally her mother remarried about 3 years ago." Kakashi shrugged, "Oh," he continued as a thought struck him, "her mother also runs the best sweets shop in the entire Fire Nation." Sasuke looked at Kakashi a moment before snorting in amusement.

"Hey," Kakashi said, "I like sweets as much as the next guy." Kakashi chuckled as Sasuke just shook his head.

"Know where they live?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi just shrugged and gave Sasuke their addresses. "Hmm," Sasuke said filing the information away for future use, "Thanks." Kakashi just gave a nod as Sasuke stretched. "I'll be going now," Sasuke said as he picked up his pack, "time for some rest I think." Kakashi nodded as Sasuke vanished in to the shadows.

"Glad to see you taking an interest in your teammates," Kakashi thought as he watched Sasuke leave, "that strange feeling you have around them is called love." Kakashi chuckled as he vanished into the shadows. "What type of love you feel for each of them," he wondered as he bounded on to a nearby roof and headed home.

Kakashi was half way home when he stopped and cussed lightly. "I wanted to ask Mikomi a couple of things. I knew I was forgetting something," he said aloud as he sighed, "Damn; guess my bed is going to have to wait for a little longer." He looked towards Mikomi's place and frowned, debating on just asking the next day. "Wait," he thought, "I remember Mikomi's out of ramen, and I know she hasn't eaten much all day." Kakashi grinned as his eye lit up, "Means she's going to cook, and I've only had a few snacks today." Kakashi giggled slightly and jumped towards Mikomi's place with a big grin on his face. Several different dishes were running through his head as his stomach let him know that it was in full agreement with his plan.

Kakashi landed on Mikomi's window sill and looked into her living room; he didn't see her and wondered if he had come too late. Suddenly he noticed a light down the hall blink on. Soon enough Mikomi came walking through the living room and looked at her kitchen cupboards. He could make out the look of disappointment on her face and saw her shoulder slump lightly. She finally grabbed a pot and started digging in her fridge with fervor; he could swear he heard her stomach yelling at her with impatience. He, then, realized it was his own stomach growling and chuckled lightly, waiting for Mikomi to come to the window and let him in.

She turned on the light over her stove and Kakashi's jaw nearly hit the ground from the second floor, as he saw what she was wearing. Obviously, it was one of Chouji's shirts. It hung off of her slender frame like a dress, loose down to her mid thigh and her left shoulder and upper arm were exposed where the collar of the shirt hung far down her arm. She was definitely a pretty girl; in fact, Kakashi would say she was fairly hot. He blinked and shook his head, "She's going to be beating the boys off with a stick when she's an adult," he thought then frowned. "In fact," he continued in his mind, "she's going to need to beat them off soon." Kakashi frowned. "I need to get a big stick of my own, especially for when we go to other towns for missions."

Mikomi glanced up and saw him, then slid open her window and grinned. "I figured you'd show up," she said stepping aside to let him in. Kakashi chuckled and crawled over the sill, turning to close the window.

"How did you know I would show up," he asked.

"Because," she replied, "I know you wanted to find out how I survived the explosion and how I lost the pursuers. I also knew that you'd show up because you'd be hungry and I know you love my cooking." She giggled and walked over to the table where two chairs were set up.

"I see," he said.

It didn't take long for Mikomi to finish cooking the meal, nothing fancy but it smelled delicious.

"I tricked them," Mikomi said as she walked over setting a plate in front of Kakashi and took her own seat. Kakashi gave a nod as he looked away from her, apparently finding the TV in her living room suddenly interesting. Mikomi noted his apparent discomfort and frowned. "Something wrong, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked. Kakashi turned to look at her a moment then looked at his food, "Well," he replied, "It's generally inappropriate to continue wearing…ermm… next to nothing with someone you don't know present."

"What do you mean 'don't know'. I know you because you're my teacher."

"I mean, I'm not a relative or something like that," Kakashi said again with a sigh, "you should probably put on something more…covering."

"I don't see the problem, I wear whatever when grandpa visits." Mikomi shrugged, "besides it's all I have to wear until tomorrow morning."

"Anko hasn't returned your laundry yet?" Kakashi looked at Mikomi.

"Anko? Who's Anko?" Mikomi frowned lightly.

"Anko is the female ninja Iruka recruited to do your laundry. He felt rather uncomfortable having to handle your… unmentionables."

"Oh," Mikomi frowned again, but lighter this time. "If she's doing my laundry I want to meet her."

"Oh you will. She wants to meet you as well, Mikomi."

"Good," Mikomi gave a nod and sighed looking at her food, "sorry to make you feel uncomfortable sensei."

"It's alright, Mikomi. Why don't you finish telling me how you tricked Izuma and Hayate."

"Oh, it wasn't hard. I figured the shock of seeing that kind of explosion would distract them."

Kakashi gave a nod and pulled down his mask to eat his food. His eyebrow rose slightly when he noticed Mikomi staring at him an appraising look in her eyes.

Mikomi shook her head and giggled lightly, "You're a very handsome man, sensei," she said, taking a bite of her food, "Too bad I'm not older and not with Lee-kun."

Kakashi chuckled heartily at that and sighed, "I guess," he replied shrugging, "but do continue with your story."

"Anyways," Mikomi continued after swallowing a bite, "I had a plan in my mind and I started moving ahead of everyone to put it into effect, which is why I missed the two exploding notes." She looked at Kakashi again as he waved his hand to indicate she should continue as he chewed. "Sakura and Sasuke tried to stop me, but it was too late. I was already in the middle of my jump when I heard them. I covered up like we were taught in the academy." She shrugged and took another bite. "But," she continued as she finished, "My body sort of acted on its own. My hands were in the seal to create clones before I knew it and I created two of them. They each grabbed an arm and threw me out of range, sort of." Mikomi sighed and frowned lightly.

"Anyways," she continued, "Unfortunately the clone on my left let go a little too late. So when the explosion happened my left side was caught in the blast. Both my clones vanished and I was sailing through the air. After that, I really don't recall much for a few minutes because I was in so much pain, but I remember grabbing a branch and getting myself onto it, leaning back against the trunk. After my mind cleared, I started to think again. I figured it'd be a good idea to use that to my advantage. My genjitsu was barely holding on as it was, so I let it go and created more clones while I was obscured by the smoke cloud. Luckily my weights took the brunt of the wood that flew every where. That's gonna be an expensive fix." Mikomi shook her head before continuing. "I created about a dozen clones and leaned on the tree like I was seriously hurt, which it felt like. I removed some of the bigger chunks of wood that had lodged in various parts of my body and looked all around. I was nearly dead but no one had to know that. I was just worried that Sasuke and Sakura were hurt. I was so relieved they were fine when I could see through the smoke again. After Sakura took care of our injuries we left. The two Chuunin guys followed and got caught in my trap." Mikomi finished with a giggle and a foxy grin.

Kakashi laughed heartily at the end of it and looked at her, "Smart kid," he said reaching across the small table and patting her shoulder. Mikomi blushed lightly at the praise. Kakashi gave a sigh of contentment, rubbing his stomach, "As usual," he said, "a decidedly superior meal." Mikomi blushed again at the praise and he chuckled as he put his mask back on. "Thanks," she said as she finished her own meal in relatively comfortable silence.

"Oh," Kakashi said after a few minutes, "why haven't you replaced some of your furniture and appliances? You should be making enough to buy at least a few new things." Mikomi frowned at his statement and sighed.

"My rent went up after I started getting paid for missions," she said simply as she got up and took the dishes to the sink.

"It did?" Kakashi said raising an eyebrow, "How much?"

Mikomi turned and looked at him as she finished rinsing the dirty plates. "It went up enough to prevent me from buying more than a few new clothes and other necessities occasionally."

Kakashi frowned under his mask but hid it well, "Ahh," he sighed and stood up, "I best get going now. You need some rest and so do I." He made a mental note to discuss this with Iruka, Anko, and the Hokage soon.

Mikomi nodded and smiled, "Don't worry sensei, the landlord said it was because I wasn't paying full rent when I was younger and this is to pay that off and fees and stuff," she said as she escorted him to her window. Kakashi opened the window and stepped out on to her sill, "See you later Mikomi," he said giving her a wave and jumped to the neighbor's roof. Mikomi waved at Kakashi a little sadly before closing the window and headed for her bedroom.

It had been a couple of days since the scrolls mission and Sasuke was wandering through town out of sheer boredom. He wouldn't admit it, but things got pretty dull when he wasn't hanging out with Sakura and Mikomi.

He wandered through the shopping district and looked in to a few of the windows, browsing the weapons shop and purchasing a few new kunai and explosive notes. He stepped out into the sun as he covered his eyes and sighed. It had been overcast earlier. He shrugged and continued on.

He wandered down a little further and noticed Sakura's mom's shop and headed that way. He looked up at the sign "Haruno's Sweets" it said. The sign was rather blunt, just like Sakura could be at times. He walked up to the window and looked at the sweets on display; some of them looked very good. He sighed and debated on going in, but he got a little nervous for some reason, thinking he might run in to Sakura if he did. Recently he had been feeling rather strange around Sakura. He didn't like feeling that way. He turned to walk away when he heard someone call his name.

Sasuke looked up as he saw Mikomi wandering up with a big grin on her face, "Oh," she said as she got to him, "Heard about the amazing sweets here?" Mikomi giggled as Sasuke just grunted at her. "Well," Mikomi said smirking, "You should come in and try some. Sakura's mom always has a few free samples for new customers."

Sasuke frowned lightly and shook his head, "Nah," he said trying to sound unperturbed, "I was just wandering by." Sasuke shrugged noncommittally and began to walk away. He didn't get very far when he felt a familiar hand on his arm and he was yanked in to the shop before he could react.

"Hello Haruno-san," Mikomi said as she dragged Sasuke forward. "I finished that delivery for you." Mikomi smiled as she pushed Sasuke up to the counter, "And here's a new customer, Uchiha Sasuke," Mikomi said stepping back with a grin. Sakura's mom smiled at Sasuke and produced a few samples for him to try. "Go ahead. It's a pleasure to meet you Uchiha-san," she said. Sasuke looked at Mikomi, who was looking back at him expectantly, and reluctantly took a sample and popped it in to his mouth. It was surprisingly delicious and he found himself grabbing another sample and eating it before he knew it. This just elicited bright grins from Sakura's mom and Mikomi.

Sakura appeared from upstairs and found Sasuke and Mikomi in her mom's shop. Sasuke seemed to be enjoying the sweets she had prepared with her mother that morning. She walked up to the counter, "Hello Mikomi," she said, "and you too Sasuke-kun." Sasuke just grunted at her and put his hands back in his pockets. "What brings you here?" Sakura asked as she noticed Sasuke turn around to cover a small blush.

"Just walking around town and buying some new equipment," Sasuke replied as he looked at the ceiling.

Sakura giggled lightly, "Oh ok," she said as she turned to her mother. "I can take the next delivery mom. Thanks for the help Mikomi," Sakura said, looking at her mom and Mikomi. "I just wasn't feeling very well this morning." Mikomi shrugged as Sakura's mom rubbed Sakura's shoulder, "It's ok," Mikomi said, "I understand completely."

Sasuke frowned darkly thinking Sakura might be sick. He looked at her, briefly, as the wheels began to grind in his mind. He noted their tones as they talked to each other. He looked at their faces and, suddenly, something came to mind. He recalled a certain time of the month, no one would talk about it, but he knew his mother was affected by it. The other women in the compound would look at his mother the same way. Luckily he hadn't said anything yet. Sasuke blinked as everything fell in to place.

The women looked at Sasuke as his face constricted in thought. They watched various emotions play across his face, first concern, then confusion, and finally surprise.

Sasuke blinked at them, fidgeting uncomfortably as they stared at him. It took him a moment but he recovered, becoming the stoic Uchiha again. Of course, their grins of amusement weren't lost on him. He fished in to a bag he was holding, searching around in the bag for a few minutes, finally finding what he was looking for and pulling out a small package. He thrust the box in to Sakura's hands.

Sakura took it from Sasuke, giving her mom and Mikomi a curious look. When she got only questioning looks in return, she sighed and opened the package. Obviously, neither one of them was in on this sudden surprise. Inside the box lay a brand new and expensive medical kit and two specialty lock picks, ones she had been looking for. She blinked a few times and took the items out of the package and smiled brightly. "Thanks Sasuke-kun," she said as she looked them over. None of the items were cheap and all were of high quality.

Sasuke shrugged and turned to look at her, finally. "I figured you hadn't replaced what you had used yet, and I happened to be in that shop getting a couple of things I needed," he said. "The picks will help on our missions in the future, I'm sure." Sasuke gave her a neutral look, clearing his throat softly.

Sakura smiled at him and hugged the new items to her chest, "I see," she said as she turned around, "I should go put this in my gear." She rushed back upstairs to hide the blush she felt creep across her skin from her mom and Mikomi. Mikomi and Sakura's mom, for their parts, just looked at each other knowingly.

Sasuke coughed and stuffed his hands back in his pockets. Looking around the shop. There was relative silence until Sakura's mom blinked.

"Oh," she said handing Mikomi some money and sweets, "here you go, Mikomi. Thanks for your help."

Mikomi smiled and stashed the money, "Any time you need help, just get a hold of me again, and free sweets are always welcome." Mikomi giggled as Sakura's mom shook her head.

"I'm sorry that landlord of yours increased your rent, Mikomi," Sakura's mom continued. "You can help us out anytime and I'll pay you for the help." Mikomi gave her nod of silent thanks.

Sasuke looked at Sakura's mother a moment, then at Mikomi, "Increased your rent?" he asked, an incredulous tone in his voice, "What for?" Mikomi shrugged and smiled at him, "He said that I owed him for back rent and fees and stuff," she said, "because I didn't have much money coming in when I was a kid. He let it slide. Now he's asking for it all at once." Sasuke frowned darkly and nodded, "I see," he said making a mental note to go speak to the Hokage about that later. Mikomi just shrugged and ate one of the sweets she had received, making happy noises as she chewed it. Sakura and her mom giggled as Sasuke couldn't help but look amused.

"I'm actually sort of swamped right now girls," Sakura's mom said. "Could you both help deliver them?" Both girls gave a nod and Mikomi set her sweets behind the counter. "I can help a little bit," Sasuke said, much to everyone's surprise, "if you have need of it. You can pay Mikomi what I would have earned." Sakura's mom looked at him blankly for a moment before smiling brightly. "Of course," she said as she went to the back to bring out some parcels. She leaned down to whisper in to Sasuke's ear as she handed him his parcel, "Thank you. Mikomi really needs the money," she whispered, "That landlord is bleeding her dry and there isn't anything I can do about it except pay her for any help she gives us." Sasuke just nodded. The three Genin headed for the door as Sakura's mom waved to them.

A week later the three Genin were assembled at training ground nine again. Sakura stretched as Mikomi yawned. Sasuke just leaned against a nearby tree. Kakashi was late again and all three were getting fairly irritated at his constant tardiness. "Where is he," Mikomi growled lightly, standing up to brush off her pants. "No clue," Sakura replied, giving her a flat look. Mikomi sighed and flopped back down again.

Sasuke watched his two teammates and shook his head. Mikomi always napped when waiting for Kakashi, and Sakura always paced back and forth. He swore he could see a vein on her forehead begin to bulge. They had been training for the last few days with their new techniques, learning quickly, and Kakashi had told them he was going to test them today. Sasuke sighed and glanced at the sky, no longer able to watch Sakura pace. "I also wonder where he is," Sasuke thought.

Sakura sighed and finally sat down next to Mikomi, looking at the ground. She was angry. This was the latest Kakashi had been so far. It really grated on her nerves to have him take them so lightly. He didn't even feel the need to show up on time. She looked at Mikomi who seemed to be asleep and couldn't help giggling. Mikomi looked so cute. Sakura couldn't help but feel the tension and anger flee her system, watching Mikomi sleep.

An hour passed as they waited, Mikomi napping quite contentedly.

Kakashi appeared in front of them with a soft pop and in a cloud of white smoke. "Yo," he said waving lazily at them. This startled Mikomi and her hands flew down to her Kunai holsters, sending two kunai at Kakashi. Kakashi dodged the first and caught the other with his left hand, looking at Mikomi blankly. "Did I startle you?" Kakashi asked as Mikomi rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Kakashi chuckled lightly and gave her back her kunai as Mikomi gave him a wilting look.

"Alright," Kakashi said, "it's time to take your test." He looked his genin over. "This will just be a short test to see how much you've progressed with the new techniques I taught you."

"Firstly," Kakashi said, "we'll see how well Mikomi has mastered the whirlwind." He looked at Mikomi a moment before pointing at a log lying on the ground a few feet off. "Lift that with your technique, move it 5 feet to the left and 2 feet forward."

Mikomi nodded and stood up, brushing herself off again. She focused on the log a moment, gauging its distance from her. This would dictate how much Chakra was needed to start the technique. Mikomi focused on it and began to flash through her seals: Dragon, Horse, Hare, Ox, Ram, Boar, Tiger, and Bird. She felt the chakra gather around her and move across the ground towards the log. In a moment the Log was swept up in a whirlwind and carried to the specified coordinates. She even had the control to set the log down gently. She grinned up at Kakashi after she was done with her technique. "Not bad, huh?" she asked.

Kakashi just smiled and gave her a pat on the shoulder, "well done," he said.

Mikomi beamed, "Yeah it's not so bad when you get the seals right. Can't believe I got tiger and bird mixed up… and added a dragon at the end of it last time." Kakashi patted her shoulder again and moved on to his next genin.

"Now," Kakashi said, "Sasuke, show me your skill. Burn the log Mikomi just moved."

Sasuke huffed lightly and stepped forward, eyeing the log. He activated his Sharingan before nodding. Sasuke flashed through his series of seals as he jumped into the air. A moment later he breathed in and placed his fingers around his mouth, as if pinching it closed. Several small fireballs issued from his mouth and streaked across the sky to engulf the poor log. He landed and smirked lightly noting the log burning quickly. In a matter of moments, it was consumed.

"Well done," Kakashi said as he turned to Sakura, "Your turn. Since your techniques are genjutsu related I'll use a genjutsu on you so you can dispel it. Then use the shimmer technique for me. I want you to show me you can use it on yourself and your teammates."

Sakura gave a nod and waited as Kakashi flashed through as short series of seals cloaking Sakura in total darkness. Sakura shivered but placed her hands in a single seal. She focused her Chakra to her belly button, evacuating her chakra from the rest of her body. Then suddenly she opened her eyes and said, "Kai." She released all her chakra in a single push, and the genjutsu shimmered and disappeared. Sakura beamed proudly at Kakashi as he gave her a nod of approval.

"Now shimmer," Kakashi said.

Sakura focused a moment and flashed through her own short series of hand seals. It didn't seem to work at first then she moved. The genjutsu created the after images that it was supposed to. She focused again and made the same happen to her teammates while Kakashi blinked and grinned. She let the genjutsu fade as she noted the look of approval on Kakashi's face.

"Well, now," Kakashi said, "very good, all of you." Kakashi smiled at them. "Alright," he continued, "we have a mission to get to, so get moving." "Yes," the three genin said in unison as they collected their things.

A week later, they were trying to retrieve a runaway cat, again. The Hokage had been giving them this mission every time it had come up since he found out the cat adored Mikomi. Unfortunately, this meant that Team 7 was stuck doing the same thing constantly. Almost every other week they had to catch this cat.

"Target sighted," Sasuke's voice came across the radios they had, "approximately 100 yards ahead of our positions."

Kakashi nodded, "Alright everyone," he said into his microphone, "get into position. We'll use tactic 10 for this one." The three Genin gave a nod and moved into position quickly.

Mikomi was leaning against a tree as her teammates surrounded the cat. The animal was a beast sometimes, so they all had to be careful. Finally Mikomi heard Kakashi's voice give her the go ahead over the radio, and she stepped around the tree and crouched down. "Here kitty, kitty," Mikomi said clicking her tongue against the top of her mouth. The tactic seemed to work. The cat stopped and looked at her for a few moments before it recognized her. Suddenly there was a blur of fur and Mikomi had one contented animal in her arms. She giggled and spoke into her Microphone. "Objective secured," she said as the cat rubbed along her chin. She stopped speaking and began to pet the cat gently.

Kakashi stepped out from behind his tree and sighed. Mikomi had a knack for being totally gentle. Given the life she had been forced to live, he was surprised she turned out so caring and loving. "Everyone come on out," he said into his microphone, "and do it slowly. We don't want anything spooking it." The other two Genin appeared from behind their respective trees and approached Mikomi cautiously. The cat, for its part, seemed completely oblivious others were approaching and licked Mikomi's nose.

Mikomi stood up after every one gathered near her and cradled the cat to her body. She was murmuring gently to it and stroking its fur. Kakashi knew that once the cat was cradled like that, everything was fine. He sighed and looked at the sun, "Not bad," he said. "Only took a half hour this time," as they all filed towards the Hokage building.

The Hokage was sitting in his usual spot as Team 7 trooped in with one very contented kitty in tow. He chuckled as he saw Mikomi fawning over the animal and sighed when he remembered the poor creature was going to be given back to its overbearing owner, the wife of the Fire Nation lord who stood next to him. Mikomi approached and handed the cat to her. The woman squealed and overwhelmed the cat as she hugged it. Unfortunately her squeal was incredibly high pitched and made everyone's skin crawl and they winced lightly. The Fire Lord's Wife stepped over, still clutching and cooing at the cat, and paid the fee she was normally charged before patting Mikomi on the head and leaving. The poor cat was nearly suffocated by the woman as she walked out of the building, cat in tow.

Mikomi sighed, seeing the woman vanish, and looked at the Hokage. "That's the third time this month," she said, "But seeing how it's treated, no wonder it runs off constantly."

The Hokage gave her a stern look before he chuckled. "Alright," he said looking at a scroll with "D's" written all over it, "seems you're all ready for another mission, eh?" Team 7 looked at him as Mikomi frowned at the scroll he was holding.

"Grandpa," Mikomi said looking at the Hokage, "can't we get something better than a D rank mission? I mean, they aren't challenging at all."

The Hokage sighed and looked at Mikomi. "This was already explained to you in the academy. Genin get D ranked missions unless we're out of Chunin who can take the C ranks."

Mikomi pouted at him, "But," she said walking up to him, "we've all mastered a new jutsu. Our teamwork is nearly flawless and we complete these D rank missions in half the time it would take other teams."

The Hokage sighed and looked at Kakashi, standing behind the genin, who gave him a rather blank look. "Kakashi would object if he didn't think they were ready for a C rank mission," the Hokage thought as he leaned back in his chair, going over the team's record and thinking. Finally he leaned forward again and looked at Mikomi with a sigh. "Alright," he said looking at the C rank scroll, "I have a mission that shouldn't be too hard for you, especially with Kakashi going with you."

The Hokage turned to look at a door. "Send him in," he said as the door opened and a young man stepped in to the room.

A/N: thanks for reading this chapter of mine, hope you liked it, as always: Give me reviews!

Thank you


	10. Chapter 11

_Uzumaki Mikomi_

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**A/N**: I'm so sorry this took so long to update, I really don't have a great excuse other than I got really busy for the longest time. I moved after I graduated from Community College and am now attending a University, Washington state University to be exact. A lot of things happened during the interim and I had a couple of big problems when it came to getting an update out. I either had the inspiration but not the time, or the time and not the inspiration. Hehe as we all know you have to have both to actually get anything done. Again I am really sorry this took so long, I finally had the time and inspiration! And without Further Ado Chapter 10 of Uzumaki Mikomi!!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto, the world or the Characters. I just hope Kishimoto-sensei can forgive me this story.

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Chapter 10

The door opened and a young man stepped in to the room. He had an inviting smile and a gentle look in his eyes. He was a blond man with clear green eyes. Sakura and Mikomi couldn't help but stare at him. He had muscles in all the right places and his clothes weren't shy about showing them off. He appeared to be maybe 16 years old.

The young man walked over to the Hokage and gave a respectful bow. "You found a team for me, sir," the young man said in a melodic baritone that made the girls' knees feel weak. The man, in short, was every girls' dream man. The Hokage gave a nod and indicated the team with a sweep of his hand, "Indeed."

The man gave the team an appraising look and the girls found themselves feeling a little sheepish. "Ahh," he said as he turned back to face the Hokage, "genin?" The Hokage gave a nod. "They are a very good team," the Hokage said looking them over, "their record is nearly flawless thus far." The man gave a nod and turned to face them once more.

"I am Takehito," he said, "It is a pleasure to meet you all, especially you two lovely young ladies." Takehito smiled as he stepped towards the girls. He bowed as he reached out and took Mikomi's hand. He brushed the back of her hand with his lips in a gentlemanly fashion and Mikomi nearly fainted dead away as her face became bright red. Takehito smiled warmly as he released Mikomi's hand, which simply fell to her side, and repeated the process with Sakura who fared no better than Mikomi in keeping her cool.

Sasuke was scowling darkly at Takehito as Kakashi smirked under his mask, the Uchiha was jealous. Kakashi found it humorous, the Ice King of Konoha was becoming more of a puddle as they days went by.

Kakashi snickered in his mind as he began reading his book again, he wasn't about to let on that he was finding this whole thing funny. He glanced at the girls as they both nearly fainted dead at Takehito's gesture. He could swear he saw the steam coming from under their collars as their faces turned several amusing shades of red.

The Hokage was finding the whole thing somewhat humorous, as well. He watched the girls nearly passed out and Sasuke glaring at Takehito. The Hokage though maintained his calm.

After a few moments of that he sat forward and cleared his throat, everyone looked at him again. "My Apologies, Hokage-sama," Takehito said with a bow, "I was merely introducing myself to my escort home." The Hokage chuckled and gave a nod, "I know," the Hokage then turned to look at the team, "Your mission is to escort Takehito back to his home in the Country of Wheat."

Team 7 looked at the Hokage and gave him a nod, "Hai," they all said.

"Keep in mind," the Hokage said after a short pause, "that you have to stay focused." The three genin gave him a nod, looking a little reticent, as the girls began to cool off.

"You have today and tomorrow to prepare," the Hokage continued, "you leave in two days." Every one gave the Hokage a nod as Takehito walked towards the door he had entered by, "I'm glad I was assigned such a promising team," he said over his shoulder as he stepped through the door and slid it closed.

Once Takehito was gone Mikomi let out a sigh and shook her head, "If I was single," she said under her breath, Sakura merely nodded numbly standing next to her.

Mikomi shook her head and decided to look around the room. She noted Sasuke was glaring at the door, as if he could burn holes in it. She snickered lightly at the sight then she glanced at the Hokage, who was looking amused, then Kakashi. Kakashi was busy reading that little orange book of his and looking rather disinterested in the whole thing. Mikomi still giggled though, she noticed that Kakashi had been incredibly amused by the whole ordeal. Once you spent enough time with Kakashi you could tell he was amused by the little crinkle at the corner of his eye.

"Alright," she heard the Hokage say, "You can all go now." The genin nodded and Mikomi ran up to the Hokage, giving him a fast hug.

"Thanks grandpa," she said. The Hokage smiled and gave her a pat on the head before she finally turned and wandered to the other door, a quick wave over her shoulder and she was gone.

Sakura blinked a few times as she finally noticed everyone staring at her and blushed again, "sorry," she said quickly, "what?"

The Hokage shook his head, a light smirk on his face, "you can go now," he said. "Oh," Sakura replied and proceeded to stumble out, still a little overwhelmed by Takehito.

Once the girls were gone Sasuke faced the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama," he said as his eyes grew a little more intense, "if you have time I'd like to speak with you." The Hokage's eyebrow rose slightly, Kakashi's eyebrow soon followed.

"About Mikomi," Sasuke continued, glancing at Kakashi.

"Hmm," Kakashi interjected as he put up his little book, "I would also like to speak to you about some things pertaining to her, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage gave a nod as he stood up from his seat, "I have a little time right now if you two don't mind accompanying me to my chambers."

The two gave a quick nod and followed the Hokage.

Sakura and Mikomi squinted in the afternoon sun as they exited the Hokage tower. "Ehh," Mikomi grunted, moving a hand over her eyes, "bright out here." Sakura followed suit and nodded, "sure is," she replied.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Mikomi asked looking to Sakura.

"Dunno," Sakura replied as she returned Mikomi's gaze, "Wanna come over to my place?"

"Sure," Mikomi said glancing down the street, suddenly her stomach growled loudly.

"Hungry?" Sakura asked as she giggled and looked down at Mikomi's stomach.

"Heh seems so. You know… thinking I'm gunna hit Icharaku's today."

"Alright, guess I'll see ya tomorrow for some pre-mission equipment shopping then."  
"Great," Mikomi giggled softly, "always fun shopping with you Sakura."

The girls giggled and gave each other a hug. They headed in two different directions afterwards, Mikomi heading towards Icharaku's and Sakura heading home. The two girls stopped just before they lost sight of each other and waved at each other smiling, before continuing on their ways.

Mikomi was skipping down the road as she neared the corner that would take her to Icharaku's when she smelled something vaguely familiar. She stopped and sniffed at the air again glancing around with a soft frown on her face. "I know this smell," she thought as she looked towards the corner, "potato chips?" She tilted her head to the side curiously as someone rounded the corner and nearly bumped in to her.

The person was definitely about her age, heavy set and had a jacket and shirt combo she recognized. Mikomi dodged out of the way as a smile crossed her face, "Chou-kun," she exclaimed as the boy blinked and looked at her, tearing his eyes from bag of chips he was snacking on. "Ahh," he said and grinned, "Miko-chan!"

Mikomi frowned momentarily, "You're probably the only one who can get away with that," she said as she gave the larger boy a hug.

"Long time, no see," Chouji said as he returned her hug and chuckled, "whatcha been up to?"

"Nothing much, really, just catching that poor cat again."

"Oh, the one that always runs away from that overbearing woman?" Chouji looked at Mikomi as she released him and stepped back.

"Yeah," she sighed, "that one, poor thing get's way too much loving from that crazy lady."

Chouji chuckled and gave a nod, "definitely, and her squeals are enough to make your eardrums explode."

"Yeah!" Mikomi giggled.

"Mmm," Chouji grunted.

"Whatcha been up to your self, Chou-kun?"

"Same old, same old I guess," Chouji shrugged, "regular little missions and the like, nothing exciting."

"Heh," Mikomi grinned, "as if Shika-kun'd do anything exciting."

Chouji chuckled again, "speaking of Shikamaru, he should be showing up soon. He was behind me when I turned the corner."

"Oh," Mikomi stepped around Chouji to peer around the corner, nearly getting run over for a second time. She jumped back and yelped a little. "Eh," a lazy voice, she recognized pretty easily, came from the boy who just dodged her, "Mikomi?" Mikomi grinned at the taller boy with the spiky hair pulled up, almost topknot style, "Yo, Shika-kun," Mikomi said and gave a little wave.

"There you are," Chouji said as he looked his friend over a moment, "what took you so long?"

"I had to listen to Ino complaining about her hair again," Shikamaru sighed and shook his head, "so troublesome."

"Isn't she though," Mikomi said snorting derisively, "more trouble than she's worth."

"Aww, come on Miko-chan. She's not that bad you know."

"Ehh, all girls are a little more trouble than I like."

"Oh bah, girls are not trouble, you boys just don't know how to handle us," Mikomi smirked lightly eyeing Shikamaru.

"You used be good friends with Ino, Miko-chan," Chouji sighed and frowned, "what happened to you two?"

"She won't tell anyone," Shikamaru looked at Chouji, "she's never told us about it."

"You guys don't need to know," Mikomi huffed slightly and crossed her arms, "Ino just showed me who she **really** was, that's all."

Silence fell on the three old friends as those last words left Mikomi's mouth. The two boys sighed and looked around quickly, Shikamaru frowning darkly. Mikomi looked at them curiously and started to look around too. "What're you two looking for," she asked. The two boys looked at her again, Chouji smiling a little sheepishly and Shikamaru looking like he was about to deal with something he didn't want to. Mikomi blinked at them.

Mikomi frowned as a voice wafted around the corner, a voice that grated on her last nerves every time she heard it, "Shikamaru, Chouji, where'd you go," The voice said as a platinum blonde girl rounded the corner. Her hair was pulled back in a pony tail and she immediately grimaced when she saw Mikomi.

"Great!" thought Mikomi as she looked at the girl, "Ino…"

"The traitor," Ino said as she frowned, eyeing Mikomi darkly.

"Now, now," said Chouji as he raised his hands up in a placating manor.

"So troublesome," Shikamaru mumbled as he stepped out of the way.

"What're you doing here Ino-pig?"

"I could ask the same of you traitor, what do you want with my team?"

"Come on Ino, we've been friends with Miko-chan a long time."

Shikamaru sighed and leaned against the wall deciding it was best to stay out of it.

"So?" Ino growled softly and looked at Chouji incredulously, "you're my team now, we don't have time to talk to this traitor."

"Traitor?" Mikomi growled back, "I ain't a traitor; you're the one who started coming at me you know."

"Girls, girls, really!" Chouji exclaimed raising his hands to stop the two before they got too far, it was a futile attempt.

"Best stay out of it Chouji," Shikamaru finally interjected, "it's just going to cause you trouble, and probably pain." Shikamaru sighed as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and continued to lean against the wall.

"I did not start coming after you!" Ino exclaimed loudly, "You totally took Sakura's side!"

"I did not!" Mikomi retorted, her voice matching Ino's.

"You so did! You completely took Sakura's side; I knew you always liked Sakura more than me!"

"That's not how it was and you know it!"

Chouji decided he had no chance of stopping this and took refuge next to Shikamaru.

"That's exactly how it was!" Ino shot back.

"No it wasn't!" Mikomi's eyes narrowed as she looked at Ino.

"Yes it was," Ino glared back at Mikomi angrily.

"No it wasn't!"

"Was too!"

Shikamaru rubbed his temples as the bickering started to give him a headache, Chouji fidgeted next to him looking back and forth between the old friends, now enemies. Ino and Mikomi growled at each other again, clenching their fists tightly.

It was taking all Mikomi had to not hit Ino right there.

Ino was doing everything in her power not to use her family's techniques on Mikomi and teach her a thing or two.

The two girls fumed at each other for a long moment, toe to toe.

"All I did was ask you to stop picking on Sakura," Mikomi continued, her voice ice cold, "and you turned on me in that instant, I didn't know you were so two faced!"

"Two-faced!" Ino yelled, "Two faced? I was never two faced! You turned on me! You betrayed me!"

"I did _**not**_ betray you! You turned on me, you two faced, petty, shallow, stuck up, snobbish PIG!"

"That does it! I'm going to show you a thing or two! You….you…. you traitorous, venomous, two timing, stab your friends in the back BITCH!"

Chouji blanched at the language the two girls were using as Shikamaru cussed under his breath.

Ino and Mikomi separated quickly as Ino's hands flashed in to the seal for her family's technique.

Mikomi jumped back a little ways to gather momentum and charged at Ino.

"Oh shit," Shikamaru thought as his hands formed the rat seal before he was thinking. He only had a few seconds before the two girls clashed in, what he assumed would be, a bloody battle.

"You're too slow," Ino yelled as she braced herself for her technique. Mikomi, for her part, flew at Ino a fist raised to deliver a nasty blow.

"Mind switch…"

"Rock Cru…"

Suddenly both girls felt themselves stop in the middle of their attacks mere inches from each other.

"Shadow binding technique, success," Shikamaru said as he sighed and stood up, forcing the two girls to follow his movements and stance, "so troublesome." Chouji sighed in relief as he wiped the sweet that had gathered on his brow, in the tense moment, away.

"You better let us go!" both girls shouted at Shikamaru, "If you know what's good for you, I'm going to beat her up!" They growled but Shikamaru wasn't about to let them go, he knew they'd pummel him before each other after what he did.

"Enough!" Shikamaru said, his voice rising, "I can't believe you two!" Shikamaru waved his hands in exasperation; the girls were forced to mimic his movements, thanks to his technique. "This is so troublesome," Shikamaru continued eyeing the two girls, "you just about beat a fellow shinobi of the leaf to a pulp and you two have the audacity to tell me to let you go?"

The two girls seemed taken aback by Shikamaru's actions and then blinked at him blankly after he spoke.

Shikamaru noticed the blank expressions and his eyebrow rose. "What?" Shikamaru asked them, but he was silently glad whatever he had done to confuse them worked to calm them both down again.

"What the hell did you just say?" Mikomi asked, moving her eyes to see Chouji, hoping he might know what Shikamaru just said.

"Y…yeah," Ino supplied a couple of moments later, "Aud…who?"

"Audacity," Shikamaru blinked, "you know…'the nerve to'…"

"Ohhh…" both girls said in unison. Shikamaru just sighed and shook his head, again mimicked by the two girls.

"Well," Mikomi grunted, "it doesn't matter I'm still going to kick her ass."

"Whatever," Ino replied incredulously, "I had you."

"You did not! My punch was going to smash that pretty little nose of yours!"

"It was not! I had you with my technique, I would have had you stopped and beating yourself up before you got to me."

Shikamaru glanced between the two, disgusted now, and muttered something to Chouji. Chouji frowned but nodded his assent. Chouji walked up to the two bickering girls and placed a big hand over both their mouths, effectively silencing them. They tried to protest but they were bound tightly and Chouji wore his tape thick, they couldn't bite through it.

"Finally, some peace and quiet," Shikamaru sighed stuffing his hands in to his pockets and slouching again, "this is so troublesome."

Chouji nodded with a grunt and frowned at the two girls, he hated seeing his friends try and hurt each other and he had a feeling those two were being serious.

Shikamaru glanced between the two girls quietly a moment before speaking again, "What were you two thinking? You're supposedly comrades you know," Shikamaru said, turning his attention to Mikomi, "'Rock Crusher' hmm? I've seen you use that technique to crush a boulder the size of Chouji. Were you trying to kill Ino?" Shikamaru fell silent as he waited for Mikomi's answer; Mikomi just cast her eyes down and didn't try to say anything. "Ino," Shikamaru continued after he got his answer and looked at Ino, "What were you planning? Were you going to take over Mikomi's body? Then what, make her go jump off a cliff before releasing the technique?" Ino didn't make eye contact. She, too, did not protest after the question. "I see," Shikamaru sighed, "so you two were planning on killing each other?"

Chouji frowned darkly and looked between the girls sadly, "That's not good," he said casting his eyes down. The two girls felt pretty bad seeing the look of pain and sadness cross Chouji's, usually cheerful, face. Silence fell heavily on the group as they all thought about what just happened.

The Hokage sat behind his desk and sighed comfortably. He reached over to pick up his favorite pipe and stuffed some tobacco in it. "Have a seat you two," he said waving his hand towards a couple of chairs in front of his desk, "just give me a moment to find my lighter."

Kakashi and Sasuke walked up and sat in the chairs, settling a little as the Hokage found his lighter and lit his pipe.

The Hokage puffed a few times until he got a good drag and stashed his lighter looking at his two guests as he puffed away. "This is the first you've actually requested to speak to me about something Sasuke," the Hokage said after a moment, "what's going on?"

"I just wanted to ask you what was going on with Mikomi's apartment," Sasuke said, "she said her rent has been raised recently."

"Hn…," Kakashi grunted softly looking at Sasuke, "That's actually the same thing I wished to talk to you about myself Hokage-sama."

"I see," the Hokage said raising his eyebrow, "her rent was raised?"

"It was," Sasuke replied, "Sakura's mother mentioned it to me when I was assisting them a few days ago."

"Indeed. Mikomi mentioned it to me when I was checking on her after the training ground 39 test."

"I see, she never mentioned it to me." The Hokage frowned lightly, taking a large pull from his pipe.

"She never mentioned it to me either, as I said; Sakura's mother mentioned it to me." Sasuke crossed his arms as he sat a little more deeply in his seat.

"Mikomi said it was for 'back rent and fees and stuff' to quote her," Kakashi supplied.

"Such a thing was not in the original contract I signed for that apartment when I decided to set her up there. Then again I heard that apartment building had changed hands in the last couple of years. I assumed the contract was retained as it was, though it seems that was naive of me." The Hokage's frown deepened.

"Can't something be done; it sounds to me like there is a breach of contract." Sasuke sat forward a little bit in the chair, maintaining his stoic calm but feeling angry on the inside. He'd figure "why" out later.

"It sounds as such to me as well Hokage-sama." Kakashi, for his part, seemed to be concerned simply because she is his genin.

"I can't do anything right now you two." The Hokage sighed and sat back in his chair. "If Mikomi signed a new contract it's out of my hands," the Hokage continued, "she was emancipated by the council a few years ago, when she was nine."

"She was?" Sasuke frowned at the information, but concealed it as quickly as it came.

"They can do that?" Kakashi asked with momentary surprise in his eye, "I thought children couldn't be emancipated until they were at least sixteen."

"They can be declared emancipated by the council, pretty much at any time." The Hokage took a puff of his pipe looking rather upset, "As long as the children are wards of the village and working towards becoming a shinobi."

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded, "I was emancipated a couple of years ago myself."

"I see," Kakashi sat back in his seat again, "So there really isn't anything we can do about it."  
"No there isn't, though I will look in to it. If she was forced to sign a contract through threats of eviction or some other coercion it violates our landlord/tenant laws."

"Why not just move her to another apartment building?" Sasuke inquired looking at the Hokage intently.

"Mikomi wouldn't go for that, she hates depending on others. You should know this Sasuke." Kakashi waved his hand dismissively.

"Indeed." The Hokage took a long pull from his pipe and looked towards the side window.

The three men sat in silence for a few minutes before Kakashi sighed and stood up, "The landlord seems to be bleeding her dry, Hokage-sama," He said, "she can't afford anything except a few clothes and some necessities, even though she's getting paid now." Kakashi glanced back at Sasuke and the Hokage then headed for the door, "I should go prepare myself for our upcoming mission," he stated before taking his leave.

The Hokage sighed and nodded as he looked at Sasuke, "something else on your mind Sasuke," he asked noting Sasuke wasn't getting up to leave.

Sasuke looked back at the Hokage and gave a nod, "Yes," he said, "I was wondering why the villagers look at Mikomi the way they do."

The Hokage frowned and looked at Sasuke, "what do you mean?"

"I mean they all look at her with this…hidden hatred I guess. They have these cold eyes, like Itachi when he killed my family."

"I see. I can't answer that question Sasuke, I'm sorry. If you really want to know I'd recommend talking to Mikomi about it."

Sasuke grunted softly and stood up, "alright," he said as he turned towards the door. The Hokage watched him walk towards the door frowning. "I guess he was bound to notice someday," the Hokage thought as he watched Sasuke leave his chambers.

Kiba jumped from roof top to roof top hoping to get home as soon as possible. "Boy," He said glancing up at the little white dog hiding in his hood, "I'm starving, think mom will mind cooking a late lunch for us Akamaru?" The little dog barked happily as Kiba chuckled. Just then Kiba caught a few scents he recognized, "Mikomi, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji?" he thought as he stopped on a rooftop to get a better whiff. "I wonder what's going on," he said as Akamaru barked looking in the direction of Mikomi's favorite ramen restaurant, "wanna go check it out boy?" Akamaru barked and gave a nod. "Ok," Kiba said with a grin, "guess we'll be eating Icharaku's today eh?" Kiba laughed as he bounded towards the familiar scents, Akamaru barking as they sped away.

Shikamaru stood in the uncomfortable silence as he looked between everyone there. He finally sighed and grunted, "I should probably report this to the Hokage," he said as he looked at Mikomi and Ino. The girls' eyes went wide as they tried to look at him. "Well," Shikamaru sighed then shrugged, "it's too troublesome right now. I guess we should let you two speak now, hmm?" The girls tried to nod but they were still held fast in Shikamaru's technique.

Shikamaru was silently glad neither girl was particularly strong, as he looked at Chouji. "Go ahead and let them go Chouji," he said and Chouji lowered his hands.

Mikomi sputtered some as she gasped for air, Chouji's hands were big and they had nearly suffocated her in the last few minutes. She looked towards Ino as she heard Ino gasp for air and sputter too. "You nearly…" Mikomi began to say before she caught sight of Chouji again. Chouji was still rather down and quietly walked over to stand next to Shikamaru, refusing to make eye contact with either girl.

Ino didn't even try to talk to Chouji; she'd seen him like this before. It was always hard to see such a gentle guy that down. Ino sighed and looked at Mikomi finally.

Suddenly Kiba landed next to Shikamaru, "what's up?" he asked looking at everyone before noticing Shikamaru's technique. "What're you doing Shikamaru," Kiba exclaimed, "you shouldn't use your techniques against fellow Konoha shinobi, unless you're, you know, sparring." Kiba looked at Shikamaru and then noticed Chouji and frowned, "something bad happened here, huh."

Shikamaru didn't flinch as Kiba landed next to him, having already felt Kiba's presence before Kiba got there. Shikamaru frowned as Kiba barraged him with questions and finally looked at Kiba once he had shut up. "I just stopped these two from killing each other," Shikamaru said matter-of-factly as he fixed Kiba with a pointed gaze. "So troublesome," He muttered.

Kiba frowned as he looked at the two girls, at a loss for words. Akamaru whimpered softly and tried to crawl deeper in to Kiba's hood.

The silence that permeated the area was deafening as everyone thought, trying to find some words to use and finding all the words they thought of inadequate. The silence lasted a long time.

Kiba finally broke the silence, "so, why were you two trying to hurt each other?" he asked.

"Mikomi betrayed me," Ino said softly.

"I keep telling you I didn't. You're just two faced," Mikomi replied, though she kept her voice down.

"What are you two talking about?" Kiba asked, lost. He looked at Chouji and Shikamaru but noticed the other two boys were keeping quiet.

"Mikomi sided with Sakura, she betrayed me…"

"I keep saying I didn't side with Sakura, I just asked you to lay off of her, that's it."

"Eh?" Kiba looked between the two girls scratching his head.

"I thought we were friends, and then you totally took Sakura's side Mikomi. I mean I never saw you telling Sakura to lay off."

"I did tell her to back off, lots of times, but the first time I tell you to back off of her and you jump all over me."

"I didn't jump all over you, I just…felt…felt like you were against me because I never saw you talking to Sakura about it but it seemed you talked to me about it a lot."

"Sounds like a big misunderstanding to me, no reason to nearly kill each other." Kiba shrugged lightly as he glanced at the two girls.

"Like I said, you always talked to me about picking on Sakura you never talked to her about coming after me."

"I did talk to Sakura, lots of times. Ask Kiba he was there for a few of them."

"Eh?" Kiba blinked looking between the two as their eyes moved to peer at him, "Err…," Kiba thought for a few moments, a frown on his face as his hand stroked his chin, " oh, yeah, I saw Mikomi telling Sakura to stop picking on you Ino. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but come to think of it now…I actually saw her doing that a lot for a while."

"Oh?" Ino frowned softly as Shikamaru started to release his technique on the two girls, "I…I thought you were against me when you talked to me…It always seemed you favored Sakura over me."

"No, that wasn't it at all," Mikomi sighed as her limbs started moving as she wanted them to, "I never found out why you and Sakura were fighting to start with. One day we're all good friend, next day you and Sakura are at each others' throats. I just wanted the fighting to stop that's all. I didn't want to see my two friends hating each other. Sakura never said anything about what happened between you two."

"So…you're telling me you were just trying to keep the peace, Mikomi?" Kiba asked a frown on his face, "and you thought Mikomi had chosen Sakura over you, Ino?"

"I never knew you had talked to Sakura too, I just thought you were always talking to me about it. So I guess I just snapped." Ino sighed softly and rubbed the back of her head.

"I just wanted to stay friends…why did you two even start fighting in the first place?" Mikomi looked at Ino curiously.

Kiba sighed and stepped back, he wanted to hear this story. He looked at the other two boys who seemed just as curious as he was. He looked at Ino as she started the story, listening patiently.

"Well," Ino started, thinking back, "You know Sakura and I have crushes on Sasuke, it's rather blatant from what I hear. Of course, every other girl in the academy had one on him too, except you Mikomi." Ino looked at Mikomi who simply shrugged and indicated that Ino should continue. "Anyways," Ino started again, "You remember that ribbon I gave Sakura way back when we were little?" Mikomi nodded. "One day after her and I realized we both had crushes on him, she gave it back to me." Ino shrugged, "she gave it back to me and said we were rivals…that she wouldn't lose to me." Mikomi frowned softly and sighed, "That's it?" Mikomi asked. "Pretty much," Ino replied, "before I knew it we were fighting and you know the rest."

The boys looked at the two girls blankly, obviously at a loss.

Mikomi looked at Ino then sighed, "Look Ino, I never wanted us to drift apart. I had always hoped we'd be friends again, but one thing lead to another and before I knew it we hated each other. I'm sorry for everything." Mikomi slumped a little bit, letting her arms dangle limply at her sides.

Ino shuffled a little, before looking at Mikomi, "I'm sorry too Mikomi, I guess I let my imagination and hurt feelings control me."

Everyone stood in silence for a moment before Mikomi extended her hand to Ino and looked at her, "friends again?" Mikomi asked, hoping Ino would nod. Ino looked at Mikomi's hand and then at Mikomi before sighing and clasping Mikomi's offered hand in her own, "Yeah, I think I'm done fighting with you." Ino smiled at Mikomi, looking her in the eye.

Mikomi grinned at Ino and then pulled Ino in to a hug, "I'm really sorry," she breathed as a few tears escaped her eyes. Ino smiled more and embraced her old friend. "You know," Mikomi said after a moment of silence, "I still have that flower wreath you and Sakura made for me, that we had your mom preserve." Ino giggled softly, "I'm glad."

Chouji couldn't take the touching scene anymore and stepped in to hug his friends, lifting them in to the air. "Alright," he exclaimed happily, "Friends again!" The girls giggled softly as Chouji embraced them, he was truly a gentle and sensitive guy. After a while of that Chouji set the girls back down and smiled at them brightly, keeping a big hand on each of their shoulders.

Kiba and Shikamaru, who could only take so much of "touching scenes", finally coughed and looked at the other three pointedly.

"I think," Kiba said as his stomach growled, "food is good, Icharaku's is just around the corner and I'm starved!" "Good idea," Chouji exclaimed, pumping a fist in to the air as the girls looked at Kiba and gave him a nod. "Yeah good idea," the girls said, "I think we have a little catching up to do." Mikomi and Ino looked at each other after that and started to walk towards Icharaku's.

Shikamaru stood still for a moment before smirking and shaking his head, "Sheesh," he said as he started to meander after his friends, "so troublesome."

The door creaked open after it received a rather rough shove. Mikomi reached in to her apartment and flipped on the light, she couldn't believe how late it had gotten. She sighed and nearly fell in to her apartment; Kakashi's training could be brutal sometimes. She finally got inside and kicked her door closed, it bounced right back at her and whacked her on the rear. "Oi!" she exclaimed turning to face the offending object with a glare. She sighed and lifted the thing up some to close it, the screws in the hinges had been stripped out for weeks now and she was getting tired of it.

Mikomi slowly made her way to her bedroom and shed her sweat soaked clothes, letting them land in a pile on the floor by her bedroom door. "Gah," she muttered as she shivered, the cold air of her room washing over her sweat soaked skin, "shower," she thought heading for her bathroom, "at least the water heater is working now."

Mikomi sat on her bed after her shower and sighed contentedly, stretching her legs and smiling. "Well, that felt good," she said looking around her room, "at least the heater kicked in, feels much better in here." She looked at her dresser and grinned, wandering over and opening a drawer. She shuffled through its contents for a few moments before finding the teddy and pants that Hinata had given her for her last birthday. This particular outfit was her favorite sleepwear.

Mikomi strode over to her bed again setting the pajamas on it and quickly drying off. It didn't take her long to get in to her pajamas and sigh happily; she loved how the silk teddy felt. The silk pants felt great too, never sticking to her legs if she got too hot in bed. Whenever she wore it she felt like she was sleeping on air.

After several minutes Mikomi decided to go make herself a cup of instant ramen before bed, she was a little hungry. She giggled thinking about what Kakashi would say if he knew she was eating this stuff before bed. "'It's not healthy,' he'd say, 'and it'll probably give you nightmares, all those preservatives in it.'," she thought.

Before she knew it the bell on her microwave dinged at her and she fished some chopsticks out of a drawer. She ate her snack in relative silence, her mind playing the day's events out once more.

First there were the dozen missions her team had finished that morning, before they got the cat retrieval one again. Then the near brawl she and Ino got in to. Mikomi frowned recalling that fight but smiled again as she remembered making up with Ino. Mikomi noticed she had finished her ramen and decided it was probably bed time as she tossed her trash in the trash can and headed for her room.

Mikomi snuggled in to her blankets and sighed, Sakura had given her these soft sheets a couple of months ago. Her old ones were getting a little thread bare and Sakura had noticed during a visit.

Mikomi rolled over in her bed and stared at her dresser, it was an old dresser. It had been worn down with constant use before it was finally tossed out. Mikomi had discovered it outside one of the small homes in the residential district as she wandered through the streets. She remember wondering why someone would throw it out and had opened a drawer, the drawer fell apart in her hands. She had frowned but decided she wanted that one. It took her some time to convince the bear ANBU to help her haul it home, but the Hokage finally ordered him to do so and he helped her out.

Mikomi giggled as she remembered the Hokage trying to fix the thing himself, he did it but it took some time and a couple of his ninja techniques.

Mikomi's eyes settled on one of the little top drawers. It was her special drawer, she kept all of her precious items in it, including…. Mikomi got out of bed and walked over to the drawer and opened it. Inside lay a few things, her photo album, a couple small trinkets and a flower wreath. The wreath was just big enough to fit on the head of a little girl. Mikomi smiled as she gingerly took the fragile looking thing out and looked it over. It was the flower wreath Sakura and Ino had given her, so long ago, before the fights started. The day the three girls had declared they were best friends forever.

Mikomi sighed and held the wreath to her chest, over her heart. "I'm glad I was able to make up with Ino, I always wished we could be friends again," she said as she put the wreath back in to the drawer, "I hope Sakura and Ino can make up too, I really miss those days…back when we were kids who didn't know how to fight with each other."

Mikomi went back to her bed after closing the drawer, her and Ino had spent the whole afternoon catching up and apologizing, a lot, to each other. It seemed time made people forget how to act around one another. They had talked about everything they had been through since they had drifted away, good things, bad things, stupid things, and in between things. When Mikomi and Ino left Icharaku's they found Kakashi waiting for her, he had said he had some training he wanted to help her with. So she said good bye to Ino then hugged her again. The old wounds had finally healed.

Mikomi slumped in to her bed tugging the sheets over her body again and sighed, Kakashi's Training had been brutal. He said she needed to work on her stamina. Mikomi knew the real reason he had called her out soon after they got to the training grounds. Kakashi asked her about her apartment and her landlord as he made her run a few laps and stretch.

He raised his hands and said, "Come at me." Mikomi launched herself at him. They sparred for a while then he started asking her questions again.

"You're emancipated hmm?" he had asked her as she threw a kick.

"Yeah," she had replied blocking a knee to her stomach. He actually ended up asking her a lot of questions; she couldn't really remember them all except two.

"Did you sign a new contract with the landlord after you were emancipated?" He had asked, distracting her long enough to get her in a hold.

"Gah, how'd you know?" Mikomi exclaimed as she wriggled her way free, but her arm was sore afterwards.

"Just had a hunch," Kakashi threw a light sweep at her, which she dodged easily.

"Why the sudden interest in my living conditions, Kakashi-sensei?" Mikomi threw a roundhouse punch at Kakashi's face.

"Oh," he said as he ducked her punch and threw a quick jab to her kidney, "just curious."

"'Just Curious'?" Mikomi smirked at that and blocked the kidney jab with an elbow, flipping back and landing out of his reach to catch her breath.

Kakashi stopped there and sighed looking at the sun as it slid behind the Hokage monument, "Guess we should stop here." Kakashi looked at her, "ever consider asking the Hokage to move you out of there?"

Mikomi frowned at that and shrugged, "I can take care of myself, when I can afford to move I probably will," she replied, "I don't need to burden grandpa anymore than I already have."

Mikomi sighed as she rolled over again in her bed, "why's everyone so worried about me, I'm a big girl," she said as she closed her eyes. It didn't take her long to fall asleep, the only sound in her room her soft breathing.

Mikomi opened the door to her apartment building and looked out in to the early morning light. She liked going out in the morning sometimes, just to feel the cool morning breeze and feel the new sun touch her skin. Of course, the thick pouch that held her money was a good thing too. She giggled softly as she headed out the door, only to be stopped by a gruff voice echoing down the hall. "Ahhh," she muttered, "crap!"

She turned to look down the hall, seeing the familiar form of her landlord. He was a heavy man, burley and hairy. She grimaced, feigning a yawn to hide the grimace. The man stunk a little, and he wasn't exactly good looking. His shirt was a little too small for his portly belly and stained with a little bacon grease.

The man wandered up to her and glowered, "You trying to make a break for it without paying what's due?" He asked her.

"No sir," Mikomi stuttered out, "I was just going to get some equipment is all."

"Equipment? Girly you got obligations here first, that back rent ain't going to pay itself." The man crossed his arms and snorted towards Mikomi.

"Well…true," Mikomi sighed as she looked around and fidgeted under the man's accusing gaze.

Just as the man stuck his hand out Lee wandered up, "Hi, Mikomi-chan," He called waving at her happily. Mikomi blinked and looked over her shoulder, "Lee-kun!" she exclaimed as he wandered up behind her.

"Something wrong?" Lee asked as he looked between Mikomi and her landlord.

"Nothing you should be concerned about kid," the landlord grunted out leveling a baleful eye at Lee.

"Yeah, I'm just paying the rent, Lee-kun."

"Huh?" Lee looked between them blankly, "but it's the middle of the month, isn't rent usually due on the first or last day of the month?"

"I told you kid, ain't your concern. Now shut up and let girly pay me what's owed."

"It's ok Lee-kun." Mikomi pulled her money out and gave it to the landlord, who counted it. She put her arm in the way so Lee wouldn't do something rash.

"Alright Girly, now have fun." The landlord's voice dripped with sarcasm as he walked back to his apartment chuckling softly.

"I have to pay my back rent and some fees Lee-kun. So I have to pay every week to get caught up." Mikomi turned and looked at Lee smiling at him gently.

"That ain't right Mikomi-chan! That's…That's…gotta be illegal or something." Lee frowned darkly and looked at Mikomi with a little concern in his eyes.

"It's ok Lee-kun, I signed a contract…he said he'd evict me if I didn't sign the contract when the council declared me emancipated." Mikomi sighed and looked down a bit before plastering on her patented fake smile for Lee.

"Now…I know that's Illegal Mikomi-chan, that's called Coercion."

"Honestly Lee-kun," she said looking away from him, "do you really think I'd have a chance of winning that case…with my…prisoner?"

Lee growled softly and tried to argue with her but he knew she was right. He sighed and looked down the hall of the apartment building, seething for a few minutes before he remembered what he had come for.

Lee sighed again and shook his head, regaining his cool. "Mikomi-chan," he said placing a hand on her chin to pull her face towards him, so he could look her in the eyes. "I was wondering," Lee continued after a moment, "if you had this morning free?"

Mikomi looked at Lee blankly and nodded, "Uhh, yeah I do," she said.

"Great!" Lee exclaimed as he presented her with some flowers and a little box of candies.

"Oh!" Mikomi gasped softly and smiled brightly, "thank you Lee-kun!" Mikomi took the flowers in one hand and stashed the chocolates in to her small purse. "These are lovely, and Haruno sweets!"

"Yes." Lee said with a smile "I thought it'd be nice to go on a morning date with you, just a little stroll up to the Hokage monument to look out over Konoha."

"That sounds lovely Lee-kun." Mikomi giggles brightly as lee offered her his arm. She wrapped her hand gently around his elbow and he escorted her to the monument.

They were both laughing together as they reached the top of the monument. Lee was glad he had gotten Mikomi to smile again. That fake smile she plastered on all the time made him hurt inside. He smiled down at Mikomi as she mentioned something that had happened to her a couple of days ago; in truth he wasn't really listening. Lee just basked in the warm glow of Mikomi's smile as they walked up to the top.

"Ahh," Lee sighed as they crested the top, "here we are Mikomi-chan." Mikomi looked up from the flowers and nodded, "seems so," she replied. Lee grinned at her and swept her in to his arms. He really didn't know why, but it just seemed the right thing to do. He carried her over to a bench and set her on it.

Mikomi was a little surprised when Lee scooped her up in his arms, but she soon found she was happy he had done so and gently rested her head against his chest. Lee's heartbeat was soothing to her, and his warmth made her a little giddy. She was a little disappointed when he set her on the bench and sat down next to her.

The two basked in the warm glow of the morning sun. They sat silently for a while, each enjoying the company of the other. Finally Lee slowly put his arm around Mikomi's shoulder and tugged her close. Mikomi giggled softly as she rested her head on his chest again and they watched the sun rise in bright blue sky.

After, what seemed like an eternity of bliss, Mikomi spoke up, "the village is pretty from up here."

Lee glanced down at Mikomi and smiled, "Indeed it is," he said. "When we aren't dealing with the people in this village," Lee thought darkly as he gave Mikomi a squeeze. Lee had a few other angry thoughts streaked through his mind but he decided it'd be best to not dwell on them, or mention them. Lee was only concerned with Mikomi's happiness right now and those thoughts would only ruin it for her.  
Mikomi knew something was bothering Lee a little bit just by looking at him, but she wasn't going to push to find out. She really just wanted Lee to be happy and she knew that her asking questions about his current thoughts would only ruin that for him.

Mikomi smelled the flowers for the hundredth time as Lee kept holding her close to him. "Lee-kun," she said looking up at him, "thanks for this." Lee looked down at her and smiled, "I'm glad you are having fun," he said as he leaned down slightly to kiss her cheek. The kiss was gentle and it somehow didn't seem enough for Mikomi as Lee pulled back from her and gazed out over the village again.

"Lee," she said as she began to sit up. Lee turned to look at her questioningly as she planted a warm kiss on his lips. At first Lee was shocked but he quickly got used to it and returned her kiss. They kissed for a long time, embracing each other as Mikomi's hand strayed to his head.

The sun felt hot to Mikomi as they kissed, she felt herself wanting to pull Lee closer as he returned her kiss. She moved her hand towards his head and began to run her fingers through his hair; it was surprisingly soft to the touch. She dropped the flowers as she placed her other hand on his chest gently, "damn," she thought, "He's ripped." Her thoughts were quickly ripped asunder, though, as the kiss deepened.

Lee wasn't sure what Mikomi wanted as he looked over to her, he was about to ask when he felt her lips caress his. Lee's world blew apart at that moment; all he knew was the feel of those lips on his and how much he wanted to feel them more and longer. He didn't know exactly what was going on as his mind completely blanked. He found his hands move towards her back. He vaguely recalled the color of flowers splashing to the granite of the monument as he felt something touch his chest softly. It was a tentative touch but it felt right to him. His hands strayed to her back now that she seemed closer, deepening the kiss as he stroked his fingers along her spine gently.

Neither teen knew how long they were like that, lips locked and gently embracing, when they heard a familiar voice echo over the Monument. "Lee, Mikomi," the voice called as their minds began to work rationally again. The two looked at each other and blushed brightly before separating and stuttering apologies at the same time.

"I see you two are enjoying your Fires of Youth!" Gai called to them as he strode up, "but be careful, those fires can burn you." Gai chuckled as the two teens blushed brighter than they already were and they stuttered worse than he had ever heard from them. "Good thing I decided to go for a morning jog," Gai thought as he stopped behind the two and patted their shoulders.

It took a long moment before the two teens could talk again. Mikomi quickly scooped up the flowers and hugged them close to her chest. Lee, for his part, found the two clouds floating by very interesting. Gai chuckled again.

"It's about noon you two," Gai said as he looked over the village.

"Noon!?" Mikomi exclaimed jumping up.

"Yes, noon," Gai confirmed as he looked at Mikomi.

"Oh, crap!" Mikomi looked around, "I promised Sakura I'd meet her for equipment shopping at noon."

"I see," Gai said glancing at Lee, "you better hurry, Mikomi, or you're going to be late."

Mikomi nodded quickly as Lee stood up, "Gai-sensei," he said, "I'm glad you're here; I need to train hard, for some reason." Lee glanced around, clearing his throat.

"I see," Gai replied chuckling, "I have just the thing!"

"I do need to go," Mikomi said as Gai pumped a fist in to the air, "Sorry Lee, I had a lovely time." She smiled at Lee brightly.

Lee fixed Mikomi with one of his blindingly bright grins, "alright Mikomi," he said, stepping in to give her a quick and awkward hug, "I'll see you later I hope."

"Of course you will Lee," Mikomi smiled and returned the hug before she ran off to meet with Sakura.

"On a name only basis," Gai thought chuckling once more, "looks like I'm going to have to keep an eye on these two." Gai fixed Lee with a bright grin "Alright!" Gai exclaimed, "Time for a work out, follow me Lee!"

"Hai!" Lee yelled as he fell in to step behind Gai. He'd talk to Gai about what just happened between him and Mikomi later.

Mikomi rushed down the monument, running full tilt to meet with Sakura, she was already late and she hated keeping Sakura waiting.

"Sorry I'm late Sakura," Mikomi called as she slid in to "Haruno Sweets", "I was on a date with Lee and lost track of the time."

Sakura blinked and looked at Mikomi blankly, "Late?" Sakura asked, looking at the wall clock, "You're actually a half hour early, Mikomi."

"I am?" Mikomi glanced at the clock too, "dang, I am."

"Uhuh," Sakura said fixing Mikomi with a curious look.

"Gai-sensei tricked me!" Mikomi shook her head and sighed, then giggled. "It was probably for the best, though."

"Huh?" Sakura tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean Mikomi?"

"Oh never mind." Mikomi replied giggling sheepishly and blushing some. "I'll tell you later."

Sakura just gave a nod and shrugged. "Anyways, we still got a half hour wanna go early or just hang out here for a little bit?"

"I think I want to hang out here for a little bit Sakura, I had a rather…err…interesting morning." Mikomi grinned at Sakura. Sakura shrugged once more and led Mikomi to her bedroom.

"Where'd you get the flowers Mikomi?" Sakura pointed at the bouquet in Mikomi's arms.

"Oh." Mikomi giggled again. "Lee gave them too me earlier."

"Ahh." Sakura gave a nod then blinked. "Lee?" She looked at Mikomi.

Mikomi giggled one more time and shrugged, flashing Sakura a mysterious grin.

"Heh. I'm looking forward to this story Mikomi." Sakura smirked and let Mikomi in to her room to cool off.

The next morning Team 7 assembled in the Hokage's office.

"Are you three ready for the mission?" The Hokage asked as he looked them over, raising an eyebrow at the new walking stick Kakashi had in his hand. Kakashi just gave the Hokage and rather blank look as the Hokage looked at him.

"Hai!" The girls said in unison as they jumped up waving a hand in the air. Sasuke simply nodded and Kakashi didn't even acknowledge the question. "Good, good," The Hokage continued glancing towards the side door, "go ahead and send him in, his team is ready to depart." One of the Chunin nodded and opened the door to let Takehito in to the room.

Takehito smiled at them and greeted the girls the same way he had a couple of days ago. Sasuke stood behind the girls protectively glaring at Takehito.

"I have been looking forward to today," Takehito said as he stood up again, "please lead the way, my caravan is waiting at the front gates." The girls grinned brightly and headed for the door.

"We're off!" Mikomi exclaimed as she headed out the door, pumping a fist in to the air.

* * *

**A/N**: Again I'm really sorry folks, I just hope I still have some readers out there who want to read this fic of mine and aren't ready to throw rotten fruit at me for taking so long. I can't guarantee any exact times I can update, but I do hope to update more often now.

I still have to find a place to live here in Pullman, WA as I've been living in a hotel room this whole semester thanks to rental agencies checking credit scores. I mean seriously? What the hell does your credit history have to do with your ability to make rent? Every intelligent individual I have –ever- met pays rent before credit cards. Anyways, enough of my personal rant, again sorry for the uberly long wait. And as always: review, review, review, Please!


	11. Chapter 12

Uzumaki Mikomi

**A/N: **Hello again and I hope you all had a good Veteran's Day. I'm glad our nation celebrates our veterans and the wonderful contributions they have made to our country.

I feel I should let you know that some of the names in this fanfic are actually important names, to me, and a little of history. I got one of the special names from a person I really admire and another from a historical figure. I wonder if you can guess who they are.

I'll give you hints: There are three special names in this piece. One of them is Takehito, which is the first name of a Japanese exchange student friend of mine. The other two, you ask? The first is a man I admire, as I said, he's the reason I write this fic. The other, well let's say he was an important person in Japanese history and the history of the world.

Hint number two: The second one may be hard to guess. I read about the person a little in my East Asian History class.

Now without Further Ado! Chapter 11 of Uzumaki Mikomi!

_Chapter 11_

Team 7 and Takehito reached the gates in short order, of course it didn't help that Mikomi was walking at a fairly brisk pace.

Takehito stopped in front of a large man as Kakashi wandered over to the gate keepers. Kakashi and the gate keepers spoke for a moment confirming that Team 7 was on its way out as Takehito spoke to the big man quietly.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Takehito asked the big guy as he patted the big guy's shoulder.

"Of course, Takehito-sama," the big man said waving a hand over a small group of carts just outside the gates, "we've been ready to head out all morning."

Takehito gave a nod and looked over his caravan before returning his gaze to the big guy, "well done, Mufu," Takehito said. He then turned towards Team 7 and wandered back over to them. "Seems everything is ready to go," he told them as he smiled brightly.

Sasuke grunted and the girls grinned back at Takehito.

Kakashi meandered back over to his team, after conversing with the guards for a few more minutes, and pulled out his little book, "Everything seems ready," he said as he began to read. The team and the caravan headed out shortly thereafter.

Mikomi looked at the forest as the group walked slowly, keeping pace with the carts. She hadn't been outside the village most of her life and the forest always seemed to be so peaceful to her. The green of the leaves and grass was a nice contrast to the browns of bark and earth, at least Mikomi thought so. She actually loved the forest and enjoyed wandering the small patches of forest that had taken root in the village. Mikomi grinned warmly and tugged on her pack as she walked down the road.

Sakura, for the most part, didn't really find the forest all that interesting. She liked a good stroll in nature as much as the next girl but the forest wasn't particularly special to her. She glanced around noting the spots one could hide if they needed, keeping a mental inventory of the areas she could guide the caravan too if trouble started.

Sakura found herself watching a bird break through the canopy and fly by, now birds she liked. She loved how a bird seemed so free and happy all the time. She couldn't remember a time she felt that way, at least not until recently. It had taken her mother getting remarried to set Sakura free again. She recalled the years her mother remained in a deep depression, she even remembered the times she had stopped her mother from committing suicide. Sakura sighed and shook her head, clearing the unwanted memories, and went back to surveying the area for possible trouble.

Sasuke took up the rear, keeping an eye on Takehito. He wasn't exactly sure why he was acting this way; there was just some strange feeling in the pit of his stomach he couldn't name yet. He glanced around at regular intervals, he figured nothing was going to happen this close to Konoha but it never hurt to be a little cautious. The forest really didn't hold any special meaning to him. He noticed that Mikomi seemed to be enthralled by it but, to him, the forest was just a place to set up easy traps and ambushes. He glanced at Sakura, noting his caution had rubbed off on her in their time together and smirked. He covered his smirk quickly, though, and continued to glare at Takehito or look in to the surrounding trees for problems.

Kakashi was taking point. It appeared he was simply reading his little book, but he was actually watching his genin. He knew there wasn't going to be any problems this close to the village but he was glad his genin, except Mikomi, were being cautious all the same. He shook his head as he glanced at Mikomi again and chuckled softly.

When the horizon finally swallowed the sun the group set up camp. It didn't take them long. The few moments setting camp gave the team a chance to look everyone over; they were surprised to see a child among the caravaners.

The small child seemed to be about six, and reminded Mikomi a lot of Lee during their academy days. Mikomi giggled softly as the boy ran around the camp helping with what he could, much like the younger Lee would run about training. He was a cute kid, just like Lee was, minus the bushy brows and saucer plate eyes.

Team 7 was settling in to enjoy their dinner, field rations, when Takehito walked up to them.

"You four are welcome to join us," he said waving a hand behind him to indicate the pot the caravaners had over a fire, "my people don't bite you know." He chuckled softly.

Kakashi glanced at his genin who were grimacing at the rations, "hmm," he said, "I think that is a fine idea."

"Anything's better than this crud," Mikomi added as she tossed the rations back in her pack, "I swear whoever made these had no sense of taste." Mikomi grimaced and stood up.

The other two genin nodded their assent and stood as well, following Takehito to the campfire.

The caravaners were sitting in a circle around the fire chuckling with one another. As the team approached the caravaners looked up and greeted them cheerily, some scooting over so there was room for them.

Mikomi noted the little boy was staring at Sasuke when he sat down by the fire and smiled softly. The boy was so adorable and seemed very intent on Sasuke's movements. Mikomi, for her part, simply sat down next to the big burly guy, Mufu, and smiled at him "Hello," she said cheerily.

Mufu nodded to Mikomi and grinned, "Hello," he replied, "how has the trip been for you so far?"

"Oh, it's been ok," Mikomi said glancing around, "but I am a little tired already, guess I packed a little too much." Mikomi giggled softly and scratched the back of her head.

Mufu chuckled again and served Mikomi some of the stew from the cooking pot, "you remind me of my nephew," he said handing Mikomi her bowl, "He's a very cheery young man and always seems to over prepare."

Mikomi smiled and accepted the offered food, "I see," she said, "He's doing pretty good then, I bet."

Mufu gave her a nod, "yes, he's going to school to become an official."

"Oh," Mikomi said after taking a bite of her stew, "hey this is pretty good." Mikomi grinned happily.

"I take it being an official is something important?" Mikomi asked, looking at Mufu who gave her another nod and smiled back at her.

"It is indeed," Mufu replied, "very important, our country has civilian officials to help with decision making and that sort of important thing. I was never very good at it myself, but my nephew has a talent for it."

Mikomi nodded at Mufu, who became quiet to eat his stew, "That's great," she finished. They both ate in comfortable silence.

Sakura sat and watched Mikomi's short conversation with Mufu; she had noticed that Mikomi wasn't getting the strange stares here. She had always wondered why the villagers would stare at Mikomi like they did. It had taken her some time to convince her mom that Mikomi wasn't a dangerous person, back when she had first met Mikomi. She was glad that Mikomi was being treated normally with these people.

Kakashi sat in relative silence as he read his little orange book and ate the stew the woman next to him had offered him. He glanced around the camp noting that the caravaners were made up of five men, two women, and a child. He found it odd that a child was with them on their journey but decided to leave it alone as he looked at Takehito, sitting next to him on the other side. "It seems a relatively small caravan," he stated to Takehito, painting is usual 'bored-but-curious' look on his face.

Takehito glanced at Kakashi and chuckled, "it is indeed a small caravan," he stated in return, "my country sends people out every few months to collect new ideas, art, and literature, from other nations so we may stay abreast of what's going on in the world." He waved a hand around, "these 'gathering' caravans tend to be small because we aren't going for bulk but new things to bring home and show our people. In this way our country remains informed, educated, and cultured in the world. If our people find something, in what we bring back, that sparks their interest we send larger caravans to get more for them."

"Ahh," Kakashi said as he gave a small nod, "I see, that sounds interesting." He returned to his little book.

Sasuke ate in silence as he glanced around his surroundings; he had chosen a spot that was somewhat isolated from the rest of the group. He didn't like dealing with too many people. As he glanced around he noticed the young boy staring at him intently and gave the boy a curious look.

The boy, once Sasuke made eye contact, tilted his head and began to wander over.

The boy made it to Sasuke and reached out to grab Sasuke's shirt with a small and curious smile, "nii-tan," the boy said in a little voice looking at Sasuke. When Sasuke looked at the boy, a little lost, the boy just leaned on him and giggled, "nii-tan," the boy said again, seeming content.

Sasuke looked around the caravan unsure what to do, as the woman who was serving the stew giggled softly and walked over. "Arashi," she said reaching out to pick up the boy, "this isn't Kuro." The woman smiled apologetically at Sasuke, "I'm Amy," she said, "you resemble his older brother and I guess he got confused."

Sasuke grunted and shrugged, "why is he with the caravan," he asked looking up to Amy.

Amy smiled warmly, "His brother and father are working abroad and I didn't want to leave Arashi alone. He's very sensitive about being around people he doesn't know that well and I spoil him a little, I guess. He asked if he could come with us so he could stay with me."

"Ahh," Sasuke replied, surprising himself by reaching out to pat Arashi's head gently, "I see." He looked at Amy again, "Amy? That's not a name from this area, is it?"

"Oh," Amy giggled, "no, I'm from America, I met Arashi's father when I was doing some traveling here and we fell in love." She smiled wistfully as Arashi reached towards Sasuke again.

Sasuke looked at Arashi and smiled for a mere second before pasting on his straight face again. "You should stay with your mom, Arashi," he said, "Nothing in this world is more important than family." Arashi wrapped his arms back around Amy and nodded.

"It is indeed," Amy said as she bowed quickly and headed back for her spot, "thank you."

Sasuke's smile wasn't lost on his teammates as they stared at him. Mikomi was shocked; absolutely shocked, by it all before she finally giggled and shook her head. Sakura smiled about it, glad that Sasuke was being so good to Arashi. Kakashi just watched for a moment before returning to his book, appearing rather uninterested.

The rest of the night went along uneventfully; the caravaners took out some instruments and played a few songs in the darkness. There was a lot of laughing and singing. There was even some dancing which Sakura and Mikomi ended up taking part in. Imagine Kakashi's surprise when he found out Mikomi and Sakura could dance and sing beautifully.

Sasuke watched as Mikomi and Sakura were passed from partner to partner along with Amy and the other woman, Kana, with mild annoyance. Sasuke didn't know why but he was definitely feeling something when he watched Mikomi and Sakura get passed from one man to the other. He was also somewhat incensed when he saw Takehito hold Mikomi and Sakura close for slow dances. He wasn't about to let on to it, but he was definitely feeling something.

The sun rose the next morning to find the caravan being packed up, everyone was moving except for one person.

Mikomi lay asleep in her sleeping bag, having danced far too long the night before. She had been happy, truly happy, for once. She danced with the people who treated her like any normal girl. The caravaners had never looked at her the way the villagers would, nor did they exclude her from festivities. In short, Mikomi had been overjoyed and stayed up too late.

Kakashi sighed softly as he, once again, glanced towards Mikomi's bag. He was unable to bring himself to wake her until it was time to move out, luckily Mikomi kept most of her gear stowed away when she slept. Finally Kakashi wandered over to her bag, "Mikomi," he said as he leaned over her a little, "time to get up." Kakashi wasn't the least bit surprised when, after a few minutes of this, he caught a kunai aimed for his throat. "Awake now," he stated dryly as he let the kunai dangle from a finger.

Mikomi sat up groggily and looked around as she rubbed her eyes. Everyone was staring at her curiously. She yawned, "What?" she asked peering towards the blur she recognized as Kakashi.

Mikomi slowly woke fully as she noticed the black metal of one of her kunai hanging from Kakashi's finger and blinked. "Err," she stammered softly, "sorry sensei," she said as Kakashi handed the weapon back to her. It only took Mikomi a minute to pack up and stretch before she was raring to go.

The next couple of days were much the same as the first; uneventful except the nighttime revelries the caravaners were apt to throw.

Kakashi could tell that Mikomi was staying up far too late during the night; she seemed to be having fun with the caravaners as they danced and sang well in to the dawn. She was getting maybe a few hours of sleep a night and Kakashi could tell it was beginning to take its toll on her. He couldn't bring himself to make her go to bed earlier though, she was having a lot more fun than he had ever seen her have in the village. It saddened him to note that, but he didn't show it. He simply allowed her to sleep in every day.

The fact that Mikomi was having fun wasn't lost on Sakura or Sasuke either. They were content to let her have her fun; she didn't complain about her fatigue during the day and kept up well. Though Sakura was getting a little worried about all the soldier pills she'd catch Mikomi sneaking during the lunch stop.

Sasuke was ill at ease whenever Mikomi would join in the nighttime revelries. He couldn't shake a feeling of loss that was building in the pit of his stomach every day. He tried to ignore the feeling by letting Arashi talk about his brother but the nagging feeling was hard to ignore sometimes.

Mikomi was glad to see Sasuke taking an interest in Arashi as they continued on their journey. She watched him secretly every day as he listened to Arashi. Mikomi was slightly surprised when Sasuke took to teaching Arashi some of the ninja basics when they would stop for the midday meal.

Kakashi and Sakura enjoyed watching their two teammates have fun, even if Sasuke wouldn't admit it.

As the days went by Sakura found she was more and more aware of their surroundings. Sakura had decided to keep her senses open when she noticed that Mikomi was constantly tired and Sasuke seemed to be drawn deeper in to Arashi's wellbeing. It had only been a few days but, to Sakura, it seemed longer as her teammates kept busy with the caravaners most of the time.

Kakashi merely kept along with the group, happy to read his little book while they walked. He had noticed a few oddities in the surroundings as they continued on but he filed them away, in the back of his mind, for future reference. He wasn't about to disturb his students' happiness for a simple hunch, at least not yet.

It turned out that Kakashi didn't have to disturb his students' happiness when, on the fifth day from Konoha, Takehito called the midday meal early. As everyone prepared for the meal Takehito called Team 7 to the side.

Takehito looked at the Team with a serious look on his face and Team 7 gathered closely around him.

"I wanted to let you all know," he said after they circled around him, "from here on out, this is the time we need ninja." Takehito waved a hand to encompass the forest around them, "there are bandit groups that call this area of the forest home, we must be very cautious now."

The genin gave a nod as Kakashi glanced around.

"Umm," Mikomi said as she looked back at Takehito, "what sorts of animals are native to this area and abundant?"

Kakashi glanced at Mikomi with a raised eyebrow and Takehito shrugged.

"I don't know," Takehito said, "Though I think Masashi knows." Takehito indicated a young looking man standing by one of the carts, "he studied the animals in the area around here for a time when he was in college."

Mikomi looked at Masashi and gave a nod, "ok," she said as Takehito smiled at her.

"We bring him along because he knows what to expect around here." Takehito added as Mikomi began walking towards Masashi.

Mikomi approached Masashi, curiously, as he dug out the cooking pot. He looked at her and smiled pleasantly, "Can I help you Mikomi-san?" He asked as he set the pot down.

"Uhh," Mikomi started, "yeah, Takehito-san said you knew about the animals around here."

Masashi nodded and indicated the forest, "there are many different animals around here, which ones are you curious about?" Masashi asked his face brightening considerably.

"Well," Mikomi looked at the nearby trees, "preferably ones that are abundant, small, and easily ignored."

Masashi frowned slightly as he thought, "Ahh, yes," he finally said, "the flying squirrels are quite abundant here."

Mikomi gave him a nod and smiled, "what should I look for if I wanted to find one?" she asked.

"Oh," Masashi picked the pot back up and indicated Mikomi should follow him to the fire, "small squirrels, about ten inches long. They tend to nest in small holes in the trunks of trees." Masashi set the pot over the fire and turned to look at Mikomi again, "they sometimes live in group nests. They are gliders, they glide from branch to branch."

Mikomi tilted her head and nodded as Masashi finished. "Ok," she said with a smile after everything had processed, "thanks!" She waved at him as she ran over to Takehito and her team.

Masashi smiled and waved back as he turned to go get some vegetables from the carts.

"Takehito-san," Mikomi called as she approached him, "can we stay here for a little longer than normal?" She asked.

"Err," Takehito said looking at her curiously, "sure, how long?"

"Oh, about an extra half hour," Mikomi said as the smell of a quick lunch began to waft towards them.

After lunch Mikomi stood up and stretched, popping a soldier pill quickly for the extra boost. She looked at Kakashi and smiled, "Kakashi-sensei," she said, "do you have an extra small snare?"

Kakashi looked at her curiously but Masashi interrupted.

"If you're going after a flying squirrel," Masashi said, "you won't need a snare during the day. Flying squirrels are primarily nocturnal and are in their nests during the day."

"Oh," Mikomi said looking at him, "ok!" Mikomi grinned as she created a couple of clones and vanished in to the forest.

Everyone wondered what Mikomi had in mind and continued to pack things away for the rest of the journey.

About ten minutes later Mikomi returned carrying a small rodent in her arms. The creature seemed to be rather pleased and chirped cheerily. Mikomi smiled at the small animal. She walked up to Masashi and showed it to him.

"Is this a flying squirrel?" she asked as he looked it over.

"It is indeed a flying squirrel," Masashi said smiling, "and one I haven't banded yet."

Mikomi blinked and looked at him curiously as he reached in to a pouch at his side. He withdrew a small band and weird pliers from it.

"Band?" Mikomi asked.

"Yes, band," Masashi said as he placed the small band on one of the squirrel's legs and used the pliers to clamp it down gently, "I band them when I capture them then use the small radio transmitter in the band to track their movements. It helps me understand how they move and where they go." Masashi looked at Mikomi and grinned brightly, "I use it to track them so I can learn more about these fascinating creatures."

Mikomi gave him a nod before scurrying off to sit down and study the animal quietly.

Everyone simply shrugged as they went about their business, Kakashi watching Mikomi curiously as she studied the creature.

Mikomi turned the squirrel over in her hands, petting it gently as she studied every detail of it. Finally, after a short time, Mikomi grinned, "Henge," she said as she transformed in to a poor, rat like, representation of the Squirrel. She released the Transformation with a soft frown, petting the animal once more before trying again.

It took her several tries before she got the transformation down perfectly. She smiled brightly as she, once again, picked up the small animal and cooed at it while she stroked its fur gently.

Mikomi created a few clones of herself and disappeared in to the woods again, when she came back she was alone and minus the squirrel.

After the caravan had been on its way for a short time Masashi slowed down so he could walk next to Mikomi, "how did you handle that squirrel so well?" He asked looking at her.

Mikomi looked at him then shrugged, "I never had many friends growing up," she said, "so I started to befriend the strays in the village, I guess I sort of learned how to handle animals because of that."

Sakura stepped up to stand on the other side of Mikomi, giggling, "Yeah," she said, "I remember one time some boy at the academy was picking on Mikomi and this big stray dog jumped out of nowhere. He landed on the boy and knocked him over." She took a breath and continued, "The dog growled at the boy until the he started to shake. Finally Mikomi told the dog to get off the boy, He never messed with Mikomi again." Sakura giggled softly as Masashi smirked.

Mikomi grinned, "Ahh," she said, "Ofuro-san, he was a big stray but he kept himself clean." Mikomi looked at the others a moment, "I called him 'Ofuro' because he was constantly bathing." Sakura and Masashi nodded with grins as Mikomi explained.

The caravan traveled in relative peace as Mikomi and Sakura regaled Masashi with stories of various Konoha animals.

Kakashi chuckled softly as Mikomi recounted a particularly humorous story about Sakura, baggy clothes, and some local frogs. This story, he noted, seemed to explain why Sakura stuck to relatively tight fitting clothes now.

Suddenly Mikomi fell silent and glanced around.

Kakashi felt a sharp spike in her chakra signature, "hmm," he thought, "I've felt this before, a warning I think." He glanced around his surroundings a moment before turning back to the group. His eyebrow rose when he noticed that Mikomi wasn't in front of him anymore, she had gotten herself to the front of the caravan. Sasuke was walking next to the last cart allowing his hands to dangle freely, which was unusual for Sasuke.

Sakura, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. Kakashi allowed his senses to play out quickly and noted Sakura's chakra signature in the first wagon, Arashi was right next to her. Kakashi glanced at that cart, spotting a new bulge underneath one of the tapestries in the back.

"Hn," Kakashi grunted softly, "I don't sense anything too dangerous, I think I'll see how these three handle this," Kakashi thought as he turned to the next page of his book.

Six men, all carrying large weapons, appeared in the middle of the road as Mikomi brought the caravan to a halt. Mikomi looked at the men blankly as the one with a large axe stepped forward, obviously the leader.

"Greetings travelers," the leader said as he smirked darkly and his buddies cackled behind him. "This is a toll road and we will need to confiscate some of your wares."

Mikomi tilted her head curiously to the side, "but we're just a li'l caravan, we don't have much to offer," She said, "and when did this become a toll road?" Mikomi let a little fear creep in to her voice as she addressed the leader.

"It's been a toll road for a while now little girl," the leader said with a sneer, "now give us your wares and you might make it home to your parents safely." The Leader chuckled malevolently as he took another step forward. Two of his men followed him and the other three stayed back.

Kakashi looked on curiously, Mikomi appeared to be shaking now; he almost believed it until he felt the faint signature of a genjutsu and chuckled.

"Listen, girly," the leader said, "Just gives us what we want."

Mikomi pouted, "But we don't have anything for you, I promise."

The leader frowned darkly and brandished his large axe, "you got a few seconds girl," he stated. Just then he heard four screams from the forest and the snapping of bows.

Mikomi smirked as the noise echoed through the forest and touched her forehead protector, "we are Konoha Shinobi and we're gunna kick your butts."

Mikomi burst in to a run as Kakashi felt two spikes come from her, he recognized the genjutsu signature coming from Sakura's hiding place and chuckled, "those guys are done," he thought as he watched Sasuke disappear in his own burst of speed.

Mikomi was in front of the leader in a matter of seconds, he didn't have time to react as he felt her fists smash against his sternum. He sailed backwards and slid across the ground for a few feet before coming to rest, in a daze. His two companions weren't much luckier as Mikomi Launched a spin kick to one of their heads, knocking him in to the trees. The third man swung at Mikomi but the blur she left behind made him miss as he felt her knee collide with his shoulder, he went careening in to the woods right after the first guy.

Sasuke was in the middle of the back three before they could even blink. The blur he left behind him made it hard to even pinpoint his exact location.

Sasuke shot a front kick in to the first guy's gut, sending him flying across the road and crashing down on their leader. The second guy didn't even see the kick when he felt Sasuke's knee meet his ribcage, he went sailing in to the forest. The third man in the back had just enough time to swing at Sasuke but was blocked by a kunai. He didn't even register the spinning kick as it sent him crashing in to a tree.

Sakura had run towards the first cart when she felt Mikomi's warning pulse. It didn't take her long to pull Arashi under a tapestry with her. She waited for Mikomi to sound the go ahead.

Mikomi's go ahead had come right after four screams rang out from the forest, Sakura felt the two pulses and instinctively flew through the few seals she needed. "Genjutsu: Shimmer," Sakura breathed softly as she felt it take effect.

Arashi looked at her curiously a minute before asking, "What's that do?"

Sakura grinned at the boy, "You'll see once this is over," she said.

Kakashi nearly fell over laughing as he watched his genin make quick work of the bandits, it was simply that hilarious. He shook his head as he watched the bandits fly every which way, noting Sakura's Shimmer technique take effect on her teammates.

Little did Kakashi know this was merely a prelude for things to come.

The Leader pushed his subordinate off and sat up. He looked around the road only to find his team missing, or out cold. He frowned as he eyed the caravan, "how could kids do this?" he thought as his subordinate muttered about retreat. The Leader thought this was a good idea, even though he hated the idea that kids had beaten him. These were Shinobi though and he knew better than to mess with shinobi.

The bandits retreated in to the woods as the Leader grabbed the unconscious one by the tree.

Sakura kicked the tapestry off of herself and Arashi. Mikomi "pulsed" the all clear and grinned at Kakashi. Sakura noticed Arashi blink a few times as she left afterimages behind her. "This is what that does," she said to Arashi who looked at her with awe in his eyes.

Kakashi strode up to Sakura as she climbed out of the cart and smiled at his team, once they all assembled in front of him. "Good work," he said, "well done."

Mikomi blushed at the praise, scratching the back of her neck sheepishly, "it wasn't anything special," she said softly. She fidgeted from foot to foot as the caravaners praised her and her team.

Sasuke took it all in stride. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at the caravaners in his usual stoic manner.

Sakura giggled as the team was praised. She was happy about the success and giddy at the praise from Kakashi. She gave Arashi back to Amy after a few minutes of holding him.

The caravan set out, once everything was secure and everyone felt comfortable traveling again.

That night the Caravaners held a celebration, of sorts, for Team 7 and everyone had fun. They didn't set out until later than usual the next morning.

Takehito looked at the sun and sighed softly. "Well," he said, "three days until we get home, one day from the border." The rest of the caravaners gave a hooray as they started out on the last leg of the journey.

A few hours after they started out Kakashi noted the road became slightly muddy, he was pretty sure it hadn't rained the night before. He shrugged and wandered up to Amy and Arashi, who was being cranky, "why don't you go get a little rest Amy-san," Kakashi said softly to her, "You both seem tired, perhaps the last cart, hmm?"

Amy looked at Kakashi a moment and sighed, "Probably a good idea," she said tiredly, "Arashi didn't get enough sleep last night."

Kakashi gave a nod and took point as Amy went to the last cart and crawled in, she used some of the camping gear to cover herself and Arashi up, they fell asleep quickly.

The road became worse as they continued. The carts began to get bogged down and going was slow.

Mikomi was beginning to get left behind as she trudged through the mess. She was about to pop another soldier pill when something happened ahead. She felt the presence just a moment to late as she saw Kakashi get cut in to pieces by three men who simply jumped out of the muck.

The people of the caravan gasped as it appeared Kakashi was sliced up, the three men vanishing back in to the mud, swords gleaming in their hands.

The three genin looked blankly at where Kakashi was, they couldn't believe their eyes. Kakashi had been killed so easily. It took them time to process all they had seen, which was too much time.

"Crap," Mikomi yelled as her soldier pill fell from her hands. She was moving before she knew it. "Sakura," she shouted, "protect the caravan!" Mikomi ran as quickly as she could before the ground shook and everything became dark, something had blocked out the sun. "Earth Technique: Earth Dome Prison." She heard a voice say as she nearly fell over.

Sasuke had felt something as they entered the boggy area, he was about to say something when Kakashi was killed. "The Hells," he breathed as he blinked. He heard Mikomi yell something and when he looked in her direction he saw a large dome of earth engulf her. "Damn it," he thought as he saw a man standing next to the dome.

Sasuke shot towards Mikomi's location, "Sakura," he said as he moved, "Shimmer, caravaners." Sasuke was half way there when he felt something else, he barely had time to jump out of the way as he heard, "Water Technique: Water Whip." He felt something wet breeze by his face and turned to face the voice, Kunai drawn.

Sakura gasped when she saw Kakashi get cut to bits. It was a gruesome sight, "what," she whispered. It took Mikomi's voice calling to her to snap her out of her shock. She didn't hear what Mikomi had said she just knew Mikomi had said something. She began to look towards Mikomi when she heard Sasuke tell her to use shimmer on the caravaners. She didn't need to be told twice as her hands instinctively flashed through her seals. After she felt the Technique take hold she quickly drew a kunai. She didn't have the Chakra to cover her teammates but she was able to, at least, get the Caravaners who hid behind the wagons.

Mikomi grunted as she regained her balance again and looked around, she had been surrounded by some sort of earthen mound. "Damn," she thought, "I don't see a way out of here." Mikomi turned a full circle slipping a little on the mud under her feet. "Hah," she thought, "Idea!" Mikomi made a couple of clones and pointed to the soft ground. The clones grinned at her before changing in to rats, not a well known digger but sufficient, and began to dig in to the earth.

"Oi," Mikomi yelled out, "what do you want with us eh?" Mikomi turned to look at, where she assumed, the technique user was. "We're just a li'l caravan, nothing you should waste your time on, your obviously pretty strong."

"That's none of your concern, brat," she heard a voice reply, "just sit there and let me drain you." Mikomi frowned as she heard a diabolic chuckle come from the other side.

Mikomi cussed softly as she received the memories of her burrowing clones. They had only traveled a couple of meters before something disrupted their chakra and they dissipated. She frowned when she realized she never got her chakra back. "Shit," she breathed as the man chuckled again.

Mikomi could hear the sounds of battle coming from outside the dome, though muffled, and growled softly, "My teammates need my help," she thought as she again glanced around the dome. "He's got me completely surrounded," she continued to think, "this sucks! I have an idea where he is, but how to get him…" Mikomi grinned as an idea hit her, "Well," she said softly, "guess I'm going to have to go it the old fashioned way."

Mikomi launched herself at the approximate area she figured her captor was located and hit the earth wall as hard as she could. Her chakra pumped out causing a hole to form under her blow. Mikomi grinned before she felt, suddenly, weak and jumped back. "Ung," she grunted as she watched the place she had hit begin repair itself, she collapsed to a knee.

"Careful brat," she heard the voice again, "touch the wall and you die faster." The man laughed at her mockingly.

Mikomi groaned softly as she began to get the feeling back in her hand again, "what kinda technique is this," she thought eyeing the wall warily. She noticed that she was beginning to feel weaker. She, also, noted that the drain was weakest in the center.

Mikomi stood back up after a few minutes of catching her breath and took out one of her kunai; she quickly retrieved an exploding note from her pouch and tied it to the kunai loop. "I'm getting out of here jerk," she called to the wall loudly, "and when I do I'm gunna kick your butt!" Mikomi heard the man laugh at her again and she threw the kunai at the wall where she heard him.

Mikomi dove in to the mud and buried herself in it quickly. The Exploding note blew up shortly thereafter.

Mikomi heard a scream and winced as she felt the heat of the blast bake some of the mud to her back.

Mikomi grunted and stood back up slowly. She looked at the wall, hoping to see a hole where she had thrown the exploding note. Her jaw hit the ground as she watched the wall seal itself up again, the man outside was cussing darkly.

"Nice try brat," she heard him say after a short pause, "but now I'm going to kill you." She heard him speak the name of another technique: "Earth Technique: Sinking Hole Trap." Suddenly the ground in the center began to swirl around and started to drag her under.

"Damn it," she cussed loudly as she started to force chakra to her feet; slowly she climbed out of the miasma. The Mud continued to try and suck her in but her water walking exercises were paying off. She had altered the exercises to work with quicksand.

"Thinking this guy is the one who kept his buddies hidden from us, under ground," Mikomi thought as she started to feel weaker again, "I gotta get out of here." Mikomi looked at the wall, "I was able to cause some damage to that thing, but I can't be touching it when I do that." Mikomi smirked as an idea struck her.

Sakura crouched in a defensive stance. She looked around the battle field quickly. Sasuke was pinned down by some water user and Mikomi was trapped in some earth dome thing. "Going off what I've been taught," Sakura thought, her mind cleared from her initial shock, "most Shinobi travel in groups of three." Sakura looked at their assailants with a frown, "I only see two, where is the other one," she thought.

Suddenly a thought struck her, "underneath!" she said as she began to move. A sword came shooting out of the ground seconds after she began to move. Sakura thrust her kunai down to meet the sword. She heard the clang of metal on metal as her kunai deflected the sword to her side. She felt a sharp pain in her leg as the sword tip bit in to it. She hissed as she finished her maneuver and came to a rest standing to the side of the caravan, her leg barely holding her weight.

"Smart girl," a large swordsman said as he leered at her, "I'm surprised you were able to detect me."

"Feh," Sakura replied stalling for time, "as if I could miss your stench."

The swordsman growled at Sakura, luckily, her leg began to work again.

"I'm going to slice you apart girly and feed you to the dogs!" The swordsman charged at Sakura leveling his sword at her vitals.

Sakura side stepped as she brought her kunai across her body. The swordsman's sword slid off her kunai and grazed her arm. She grunted again as blood began to seep slowly from her new wound. He came at her again. She deflected his attack but her hand became numb from the sheer force of his blow.

"I won't last long like this," Sakura thought jumping back to give herself some room, "but, at least, I know where all three are now."

Sakura used the distance to flash through her short series of seals again, "Tch," she grunted, "not enough for all three of us, but I can at least cover myself." Sakura moved as she felt her technique take effect, noting the afterimages with a grin.

"Hah," the swordsman called to her, "you think that little technique will help you?" He charged her again, this time going for a downward chop.

Sakura's hand flashed through the air as she blocked the downward slicing blade, mere inches from her head. She brought her other hand to her kunai, hoping both hands were enough to stop the powerful force. She grunted as she was forced down by his power, "shit," she thought, "is this how I'm going to die?" She went down to a knee as he pressed his advantage, grinning sadistically. "I'm gunna die here ain't I? I can't help them." She grimaced as she felt her arms begin to give under the pressure.

Sakura's downward spiral was cut short by a voice she was all too familiar with. "You're not gunna die," the voice said as she saw her inner self, "we ain't gunna die here, we still got a lot of things to do. Are you going to let this sadistic ass beat you?!" Sakura felt herself getting angry as her inner self berated her. "No way," Sakura shouted as she opened her eyes again.

Sakura growled as she felt the adrenaline flow through her body. "Shanarro!!" she half growled half yelled as she forced the swordsman back. She snapped her leg out and caught him in the gut as she finished standing. The swordsman looked surprised as he went flying backwards and landed on his rear.

The swordsman stood back up as Sakura panted heavily, "I'm going to kill you girly!" He shouted as he charged at her screaming.

Sasuke spun to face his opponent, kunai in hand. His enemy was a skinny man, "looks like a girl," Sasuke thought before his calm firmly took hold of his psyche.

The, obvious, water user smirked at Sasuke, "well done," he said giving Sasuke a mocking clap.

"What do you want," Sasuke asked in his usual icy tone, "and make it quick."

The water user frowned at Sasuke, "None of your business kid," he said, "I think I'm going to enjoy washing that smug look off your face." He flashed through some seals and the water on the ground shot up towards Sasuke, "Water Technique: Water Whip."

Sasuke's eyebrow raised a split second before he had to start dodging the whip. Sasuke's hand blurred out to block the whip as it came at him from the left. Unfortunately another was coming from underneath. Sasuke flipped backwards, the second whip grazed his calf. Sasuke grunted softly as he landed and felt his blood trickle down the back of his leg.

"Careful boy," the water user sneered, "those whips can cut deep." He chuckled darkly as more whips flashed towards Sasuke.

"Damn," Sasuke thought as he jumped out of the way, quickly twisting himself in the air to avoid a second whip lash. He landed lightly and eyed the water user carefully, "He's got to have more than just that technique," Sasuke thought as he launched two shuriken at the water user.

The water user dodged one suriken and caught the other nonchalantly. He made it look effortless. He grinned at Sasuke, condescendingly, and threw the suriken back.

Sasuke dodged to the left and got tripped by a water whip waiting for him. He quickly rolled out of the way as another whip came crashing down at him.

Sasuke rolled to his feet and grunted, "I'm going to have to get close," he thought, "if I want to get anywhere." He waited for all the whips to come crashing down at him before he bolted towards the water user. He launched another set of suriken, which the water user dodged easily.

As Sasuke neared the water user he cussed, he barely noticed something and jumped in to the air. He had barely managed to dodge another whip. "OK," he thought as he landed, "this is getting irritating and I still have to help Sakura and Mikomi." His brow clouded darkly as he thought about his teammates being in danger.

The water user looked at Sasuke curiously before he grinned again, "worried about those girls?" he asked as he sent another water whip streaming towards Sasuke, "my friends should be making quick work of them as we speak." He weaved his hands and shot more whips towards Sasuke.

Sasuke heard the clash of steal and an explosion. He frowned but didn't have time to look around as he dodged more water whips. He had figured out the water user's strategy now. The water user was using the whips to keep him back and it was beginning to get on his nerves.

"I don't have time for this," Sasuke said in frustration as he flashed through a series of seals, "Fire Technique: Phoenix Fire" Sasuke called out as he jumped in to the air. Several small fireballs shot from Sasuke's mouth. The fireballs streaked towards the water user. He had a feeling those fireballs were moving too fast for the water whip technique.

The water user laughed at Sasuke and jumped back a little flashing through his own series of seals, new ones. "Water Technique: Water Bullets" he shouted as several small water bullets streaked from the ground and intercepted Sasuke's fireballs. "Fire won't help you against water boy," he cackled as Sasuke landed.

"Damn it," Sasuke cussed silently. He eyed the water user carefully. "Fine," Sasuke growled as he flashed through another series of seals.

The water user's water whips shot towards Sasuke again, but Sasuke was a step ahead of him, "Fire Technique: Grand Fireball" Sasuke shouted as he breathed a giant fireball at the water user. He noticed, with a smirk, that the water user's water whips simply evaporated and the fireball continued towards the water user.

"Oooh," the water user said in mock fear as his hands flashed through another set of seals, "Water Technique: Grand Water Wall".

The ground shook as a giant wall of water shot in to the air, effectively extinguishing Sasuke's fireball. Sasuke cussed again when he noticed the wall was surrounding him.

"I told you boy, fire can't beat water," the water user said, "well it's been fun playing with you but it's time you die."

Sasuke frowned as he heard steel slide out of a sheath, "crap," he thought as he slid in to a defensive stance. "Sharingan," he breathed as his eyes changed and his vision became more acute.

Sasuke noticed a shadow just before the water user ran through the water wall. Sasuke barely had enough time to block the attack, earning a small cut on his cheek.

Sasuke was forced completely on the defensive, barely able to block the attacks as the water user shot back and forth through the wall of water. Sasuke frowned as his movements seemed to be slow compared to his vision.

Mikomi stood in the center of the dome for a little while, thinking out her plan. She took out some soldier pills and looked them over, "Probably shouldn't take three of these at once," she thought, "but I don't think I have a choice." Mikomi grunted softly as she stuffed the three pills in to her mouth and swallowed. She vaguely wondered why they didn't taste as terrible as she remembered, this time around.

Once she felt the pills begin to take effect she growled softly and formed the ram seal. She focused on creating lots of chakra; she was going to need it. Suddenly a blue dome of chakra formed around her and she grinned. She allowed her senses to expand, noting two voices she didn't recognize.

"Let's do this," she thought and flashed through a familiar set of seals "Wind Technique: Whirlwind, Powered". Mikomi had gotten better at her control during her training. Unfortunately she had never tried this particular use yet, she hoped it'd work.

After a few seconds the whirlwind formed around her. "Alright," she exclaimed as the whirlwind picked her up and started to spin her around. Mikomi began to spin faster and faster as the whirlwind came to a crescendo. "Release," Mikomi exclaimed after she forced as much chakra as she could in to her weights.

Mikomi's Genjutsu went down as she kicked her legs out, launching her leg weights. Those were soon followed by a double punch as she launched her arm weights.

"What the…," the earth user began too say when he heard the rumbling inside his dome. Suddenly something flew out of the wall on either side of him. "The hell!" he exclaimed as he saw his dome begin to crumble. Soon afterwards two more objects flew out of the dome and smashed in to his stomach, launching him backwards.

Sasuke felt the chakra flying towards him and stepped to the side quickly, ducking in to a crouch the water user came in through the wall again. "Oh shi…" was all Sasuke heard before he heard the loud clang of metal on metal and the wall collapsed.

Sakura was pretty sure she couldn't take the next attack from the swordsman, but she braced for it anyways. Fortunately, she didn't have too as the swordsman jumped back. He barely dodged an object careening for his head. The object landed a few feet further and dug a big trough in to the ground.

Mikomi landed with a grunt and waited for the vertigo to wear off before she opened her eyes. She saw the earth user cough up blood and pick himself off the ground.

"You bitch," he yelled at Mikomi as his hands moved to make seals.

Sasuke looked over as he heard the earth dome crash down and smirked. He saw Mikomi, "she doesn't look good," he thought after scrutinizing her shortly, "Better help her." Sasuke noted the water user was a distance off. The water user had, apparently, blocked the projectile with his sword. He shrugged and ran towards Mikomi.

Sakura sighed in relief when she saw the swordsman eyeing the trough with wide eyes. She took the chance to take a soldier pill and giggled. She cast a quick glance around. She smiled when she saw Mikomi was free of the prison.

Mikomi cussed softly as she stood up, "can't let him form any seals," she thought as she launched herself at the earth user.

The earth user blinked when he noticed Mikomi right in front of him, before he had even formed the second seal.

Mikomi shot her hand at the earth user's chin, catching him off guard and sending him in to the air with her uppercut. She quickly followed that with a jump and faced the earth user in mid air.

"Fast," the earth user breathed as Mikomi kneed him in the side; she followed it up with elbows to his kidneys and another knee to his other side.

"Tora…," Mikomi shouted before she doubled over in pain mid flip, "I…I can't finish," she thought as she winced.

"Hah," the earth user said as he began to fall to earth again, "not enough!" He began to right himself when he felt a presence behind him. "Yo," he heard as he felt something touch one of his sides.

Sasuke had launched himself in to the air as soon as he saw Mikomi jump. He knew he had to get there quickly, he didn't know why, but he knew he had to be there. His answer came when he saw Mikomi double up in pain, "too many soldier pills," he thought as he came up behind the earth user.

"Yo," Sasuke said as he touched the earth user on one side, the earth user covered up that side and Sasuke smirked. He flipped over to deliver a nasty kick to the earth user's gut. The rest of his movements were a blur.

"Shishi…," Sasuke called out as he felt Mikomi next to him.

"Rendan!" Sasuke and Mikomi yelled together as their feet met the earth user's body and face.

Sasuke heard the bones of the Earth user's face crack under Mikomi's heel drop; he also felt ribs give way under his scissor kick.

The Earth user came crashing down to the earth after the combinations connected. There was a loud crash and the earth gave under the sheer force of his landing, forming a crater. The Earth user didn't move anymore.

Sasuke and Mikomi landed after the combination. Mikomi stumbled and fell over with a grunt and a groan.

"Mikomi," Sasuke frowned as he knelt beside her.

"Go help Sakura," Mikomi said with a weak smile, "I'm ok."

Sasuke frowned but nodded, he knew Mikomi was right. He stood up and started towards Sakura.

The water user and swordsman looked at their fallen comrade then at each other.

"Forget the brats," the water user said, "get the prince." The two charged towards Takehito.

Sakura blinked at the sheer force of the combination then cussed when she heard the water user speak. "Damn," she thought as she spun to face them, "I don't think I can take them both on."

Sasuke growled as he saw the two run towards Sakura and the caravan, "I don't think I'm going to make it on time," he thought as he tried to pick up his pace.

Mikomi winced and muttered darkly as she tried to move. Her body wasn't responding but she needed to help her teammates. "Well," she thought as she began to move her hands together painfully, "guess this all I can do right now."

Mikomi just about finished her clone seal when she heard a voice, "No, Mikomi," it said, "let me handle it." Mikomi blinked and let her hands fall to her sides, "Sensei," she said as a familiar shadow appeared above her.

Sasuke had made it just in time; he turned to face the two men when something appeared in front of him.

Sakura stood her ground as she saw Sasuke appear in front of her, her leg was about ready to give out completely but she'd be damned if she was going to let those two get near the caravan. She braced for the attack and then noticed something appear in front of her and Sasuke.

Kakashi was in front of his genin with the water user under one arm, out cold, and his other arm poised to deliver a nasty clothesline to the swordsman.

The swordsman couldn't stop as his neck met with Kakashi's forearm, he choked then everything went black.

"Sorry I'm late," Kakashi told his genin as he turned around, after taking out the swordsman, "I had to see who they were after." Kakashi turned to face Takehito then wandered over and tied the two unconscious villains to a tree. He then went over and picked up Mikomi, hauling her back to the caravan and placed her in the back of one of the carts. "Sakura," he said turning around, "get in next to Mikomi."

Sakura nodded and limped towards the cart. She was rather surprised when Sasuke picked her up and carried her over. Sasuke placed her next to Mikomi and turned to face Takehito angrily.

"Prince," Kakashi said looking at Takehito.

Takehito sighed and gave a deep bow, "I am Prince Hirohito Takehito, of the Country of Wheat," he said.

Kakashi and Sasuke frowned as Sakura began to patch herself up.

"This mission should have been a B rank mission at least," Kakashi said as he glowered at Takehito, "VIP guard duty and the involvement of other ninja."

Takehito frowned, "I understand, my father ordered me to take it out as a C rank because he thought we'd only be dealing with bandits." Takehito sighed, "I assure you, I was not expecting ninja to come after me."

Kakashi eyed the two tied to a tree, "Chunin level," he stated, "We should return to the village. My team needs be treated and we should get you the correct level of ninja."

Takehito looked at the girls and shook his head, "The capitol is but three days away, Konoha is five days away," he said, "we have excellent medical facilities in my city."

Sasuke frowned darkly looking at his two teammates, "I agree with him," he said, "we need to get these two to the nearest doctor, which is in their capitol."

Kakashi glanced at Sasuke then gave a nod, "you're right," he sighed, "let's make it quick and hope we don't come across any more ninja." Kakashi turned to look at his team as Takehito walked to the lead cart, "You three did very well," Kakashi smiled, "I'm proud of you all."

The caravan began to move again, easily, now that the mud was dry. Kakashi took point again, walking stick in tow.

**A/N:** Sorry this one took so long folks, but it took me a while to figure out exactly how the battle would play out. Well another chapter of my "Country of Wheat" arc down and more to go, hehe. I hope you liked this chapter and I hope I made the battle appropriately "Chunin Level".

I know my use of the words "Nii" and "Nee" is incorrect in previous chapters and that is one of the things I intend to fix when I go about rewriting them. But I felt it would be a good idea to explain my use of "tan" when the boy, Arashi, was referring to Sasuke as "nii-tan". (This made me think of my inappropriate use of Nii and Nee). From my research in to the use of honorifics "tan" is a mispronunciation of the word "chan" that is commonly associated with children and "cute". That is what I was going for with Arashi.

I mentioned some special names in the first Authors note. "Why should we care?" you ask. Because the first person who can guess both names and who they are/were, within 1 week of the posting of this chapter, will get a prize!

The prize will be a one-shot, written by me, about any pairing you want in any genre. (As long as the characters are Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or Uzumaki Mikomi characters).

Here's how it works, if you think you know who the special names are/were send me a review or a PM telling me who you think they are/were and which name you think it is. Then you list the pairing you want, the genre, the type, and rating! Simple right?

**Example:**

**Pairing: Uzumaki Mikomi/Rock Lee**

**Genre: Romance, Friendship (etc.)**

**Type: Yao/Yuri/Gender Bender/Straight (indicate character to be gender bendered)**

**Rating: T, M (etc.)**

Of course the type may be unnecessary based on the genre or rating.

I'm doing this to see what a fan wants me to write and, if it's something I don't normally write or read (such as yao or yuri) it gives me a chance to experiment with something new and maybe learn new tricks as an author.

I'm setting a time limit of 1 week from the posting of this chapter, the winner will be announced with the release of the next chapter and the One-shot will be released the same day as the last chapter of my "Country of Wheat" arc.

That will hopefully give you a little something to enjoy while I go through and tackle the problems with the previous chapters.

Anyways, I hope you liked it and I really want to read what you thought of the battle so, review review, review, Please!


	12. Chapter 13

Uzumaki Mikomi

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**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Naruto; I hope the real creator can forgive me this story.

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay folks! I don't have much to add here other than I've been busy and all. I do hope this chapter was worth the wait for y'all, though.

Now, without further ado, Chapter 12 of Uzumaki Mikomi! (And the true start of the Land of Wheat Arc.)

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_Chapter 12_

The squeaking of the wagon wheels were beginning to grate on Sasuke's nerves. It had been at least a day since they had fought the Chunin and they weren't making the progress Sasuke wanted them too.

The caravan had skipped resting the previous night and was pushing hard but it seemed that they would never make it to the Capitol in time.

Sasuke found himself walking next to the lead cart, which contained Mikomi and Sakura, the entire time. He'd glance in to the wagon occasionally but he still didn't see much change. Sakura was looking even paler than she had before and Mikomi was unconscious. He found his ire rising every time he looked ahead and saw nothing in the distance but fields and more fields. He sighed and looked around attempting to rid his mind of the sense of urgency he felt. He knew the caravan was pushing as hard as it could.

They had gotten out of the forest almost as soon as they had crossed the border in to the Country of Wheat. The country lived up to its name, Sasuke noted. The road was surrounded by golden wheat gently bending in the breeze. He knew the country supplied a lot of wheat and grains to other nations, but it hadn't prepared him for the sight before him. Whenever he looked around all he could see was wheat and the occasional worker in the fields, though they were too far off to really be of help to the group.

Sasuke grunted and turned to look at his teammates again. He scowled darkly as he looked them over, activating his sharingan to see if they were still alive. He sighed in relief as he noted the muscles in their chests moving slightly.

Sakura had lost a lot of blood and Mikomi had simply passed in to, something akin, to a comatose state about an hour after the battle with the Chunin.

Kakashi kept an eye on his genin; he wasn't even reading his favorite book as the caravan continued on. He could tell Sasuke was close to his limit in patience. The ice king had apparently melted in his time with Team 7. Kakashi could see the look of worry etched on the Uchiha's face. Unfortunately that left the Uchiha an easy target. If anything were to happen now he figured Sasuke wouldn't be able to react.

Kakashi sighed and stashed his book away. He began to slow down so the caravan could overtake him and he could walk next to Sasuke. He wondered if he had waited too long to show up, but decided to shove that thought in to the dark recesses of his mind until they were safely in the Capitol.

"Sasuke," Kakashi drawled as he drew up to Sasuke's position, "You need to keep your guard up. We don't know if we might get attacked again."

Sasuke shot Kakashi a withering glare before he managed to control it again. He forced his face in to his usual impassive mask. "I am aware of my surroundings, Kakashi," he said neutrally, "and I have yet to feel anything of concern."

"Hn," Kakashi grunted glancing around quickly, "true, but it's best to be prepared for anything. You should know this; also, your teammates are out of commission for now. It's best to keep an eye out to maintain their safety too."

Sasuke trained his eyes in front of them before replying to Kakashi, "I understand what you are saying," he said.

"I see," Kakashi returned, "then perhaps you should quit staring at your teammates and look to our surroundings, eh?"

Sasuke grunted as he suppressed a growl, "We wouldn't be in this mess had you not taken your time to show up, Kakashi," He replied, adding a little venom to his words.

Kakashi's eyebrow rose slightly as he looked at Sasuke, "Perhaps so," he replied before moving ahead again, "keep your eyes out anyway."

Sasuke watched Kakashi retreat back to the front of the caravan with daggers in his eyes. It took him a few moments to push his feelings down again, but he managed. He looked at the two girls again; he wondered why he was acting this way. Shinobi get hurt on missions all the time, some die. He couldn't keep the nagging feelings out of the back of his head, though.

Kakashi sighed as he returned to his position and rubbed his forehead lightly. He glanced back to see how his team was doing and noticed that Sasuke was finally paying attention to his surroundings. What worried him, though, was how Sakura and Mikomi were faring.

Sakura had lost a lot of blood from her wounds. Her skin was pale and her touch was somewhat clammy. She had lips that were turning a slight shade of blue, which only told Kakashi that she was still loosing blood to the bandages. He had resorted to putting her under a sleeping Genjutsu the previous night so she could get some sleep. He also found himself using the emergency injections most Jounin carried. A mixture of proteins and nutrients to keep the body alive long enough to get them to a proper medical facility. It also contained a good dose of a general antivenin. He sighed as he remembered he only had about two more doses left, he hoped it would last long enough.

Mikomi, on the other hand, seemed utterly depleted of chakra. Kakashi actually wondered how she managed to live through the drain she had undergone. The soldier pills hadn't helped matters. Soldier pills were designed to give quick boosts when one was in a hurry, not for maintaining ones energy over an extended period of time. Mikomi hadn't woken up since she passed out the previous day and that worried him a great deal. He had an idea of the cause behind her continued life, though.

Takehito frowned darkly as he walked at the back of the caravan; he was worried about those two girls immensely. He had ordered the unloading of a few of the heavier things to lighten the load but it was still slow progress, even with the hurried pace. Oxen could only be pushed so far. He had sent a runner ahead of them to inform the hospital in the capitol and send another caravan back to gather the things that had to be abandoned. He looked at Kakashi ahead of them and sighed softly as he picked up his pace. He felt he should apologize more.

Kakashi glanced over when he felt Takehito standing next to him. He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts he hadn't noticed, "so much for paying attention to one's surroundings," he thought. "Something wrong, Takehito-dono," he asked.

"Yes," Takehito replied as he looked at Kakashi then glanced back at the wagon with Mikomi and Sakura in it, "I feel I should apologize more, my excuse of not expecting ninja is…insufficient." Takehito rubbed his temples quickly, "I feel that there can be no excuse for my actions," he continued, "All I can do is apologize for my rashness."

"Mm," Kakashi mumbled, "I'm sure the girls will be fine as soon as we get them to the capitol and I'm sure they won't hold a grudge." He looked back at Sasuke again, "Though I'm not so sure about Sasuke." He left it at that as he began looking at the surroundings, falling silent.

Takehito sighed again and fell back to the first wagon, walking next to the driver seat. Mufu looked at him sadly before giving the reigns a snap to hurry the oxen along.

A large gate appeared on the horizon, a couple of days later. Takehito smiled as he noticed this. "We're here," he breathed as everyone let up a tired cheer.

Sasuke glanced in to the cart that his teammates were in and sighed. "Finally," he said as he looked towards the gates.

Kakashi was relieved, though he wouldn't let on to that yet, he still had to get the girls to the hospital. He hoped the staff, at the hospital, was ready for the group. He remembered Takehito sending a runner a few days ago but he wasn't sure the runner had gotten there safely. The group had made it through the three days without incident, or an attack from other ninja, but he couldn't be sure about the runner.

The gates opened slowly, too slowly for Sasuke but he persevered. He rested a hand on the cart the girls were in, "Almost there," he said under his breath as he glanced in to the cart. He noted Arashi resting between the two girls, the poor kid had been worried the entire trip. He recalled seeing Arashi in the cart with the two girls almost the entire time. He felt something he hadn't in a while. He felt proud of Arashi and happy that Arashi spent the time with the girls. He wouldn't let on to that though, he had appearances to maintain after all.

Kakashi grunted as he stashed his little book again, he hadn't been able to read much of it, and glanced around.

The city was obviously a wealthy city. He could almost smell the money in the buildings. Everything was built big and expensive. Looking down the street leading from the gate he could see the Wheat Lord's palace up on a small hill. It had its own fence and gate but Kakashi had expected that. Along both sides of the street were shops and gambling parlors. A few more questionable establishments could barely be made out down a few alleys. The main road led directly to the palace.

The caravan began to move faster as the wagons got on the cobblestone streets of the city. Sasuke was glad that they were making faster progress. The intersections had signs at them to control traffic and caravans seemed to be at various warehouses off the large river that split the city in two. The hospital was down another main avenue, it didn't take too long to get there.

The hospital itself was impressive, at least by the standards of the two shinobi still conscious. They looked at the hospital with its stucco facade and large doors. The hospital was easily four stories high. The large medical symbol graced its front face and looked out over the city.

Nurses rushed out as soon as the announcement was made that the caravan had gotten there. They placed the two girls on gurneys and whisked them away. Kakashi could feel the chakra spike as the automatic doors opened and closed.

Takehito walked up to Kakashi and Sasuke as the caravan began to move towards the palace again. "I will go report to my father," he said, "You two should probably stay here until we can figure out what's wrong with the girls." Sasuke and Kakashi gave Takehito a nod and headed in to the hospital.

Takehito found himself looking at his father as he entered the meeting room in the palace. He slowly walked up to the throne and bowed respectfully as he waited for his father to tell him to report.

"Report," the Wheat Lord said in a deep voice, "I have heard a disturbing rumor about your recent trip from Konoha."

"Indeed father," Takehito said, "other than the usual bandits we ran in to some ninja that seemed intent on taking me. Fortunately the Konoha shinobi performed their job admirably but two have been injured." The Wheat Lord nodded and waved his hand for Takehito to continue. "It is most disturbing," Takehito continued, "that there were shinobi after me. The Jounin leader of the group seemed rather displeased that we took out a C ranked mission for my guard."

"I see," the Fire Lord said slowly as he thought, "I can understand, as you know most shinobi villages prefer to send more experienced Ninja on a VIP guard." The Wheat Lord waved his hand slightly, "but there is little we can do about the ninja, though I know of a few issues our nation is having right now, son. Which should probably wait until the Jounin is here. Who were the injured shinobi?"

"A couple of female ninja, father," Takehito replied as he stood upright to look his father in the eyes, "A pink haired female who is bleeding profusely, though her wounds appear minor, and a blonde female Ninja, who seems to have simply fallen unconscious. She was able to produce enough power that I felt it but soon afterwards she collapsed."

"What are their names, son," The Wheat Lord said as his sat straighter in his chair, obviously intrigued at the mention of the blonde ninja.

"Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Mikomi," Takehito replied as his eyebrow crept up. He had never seen his father intrigued by the mention of ninja and their injuries before.

"Uzumaki…," The Wheat Lord breathed deeply as his eyes went wide for a moment before he took control of himself, "have them moved to the Imperial Hospital then."

Takehito blinked a few times as he processed his father's orders, "The Imperial Hospital, father," he asked, a little surprised.

"Indeed," the Wheat Lord said as he leaned back in the throne, looking thoughtful, "we have a guest paying off a debt, who may be able to help the two ninja."

Takehito gave his father a nod and then scurried out of the room.

"Uzumaki," the Wheat Lord said as he smiled slowly, "Uzumaki Mikomi, eh?"

Kakashi sat in the girls' room, at the hospital, watching Sasuke pace back and forth. He couldn't concentrate on his book because of Sasuke and he sighed. He finally decided it would be best to stash his little book and try for a little dialogue between the two again.

"Sasuke," he said as he leaned forward, "you should sit down and relax, you haven't gotten any rest during the last few days."

Sasuke shot Kakashi a dark look before schooling his face again, "I am fine, Kakashi," he replied, "I'm simply wondering why ninja would attack the caravan; there was nothing to indicate that the son of the Wheat Lord was in it."

Kakashi found the tone of Sasuke's voice disturbingly cold and business. He frowned under his mask and looked at Sasuke evenly. "I understand the frustration of having teammates injured in the field," Kakashi started while holding up a hand to stave off any protests, "but injuries happen all the time, in the field, and I won't be there to protect you all forever."

Sasuke growled softly, "You should have been there when the team needed you Kakashi," he said, "It's what teammates do, is it not?"

Kakashi sighed, "I had to be sure who the target was, if I did not know who the target was and intervened too soon this mission would have failed. I needed to know if the target was one of us ninja or a caravaner and who it was. You three were doing fine during the fight, I was actually slightly surprised." Kakashi shrugged slightly at his last statement.

"Oh yeah," Sasuke said as his anger began to boil, "Sakura's doing fine? Mikomi's doing fine? If you hadn't noticed they're both in the hospital right now unconscious..." Sasuke stopped there and blinked a few times. He was angry with Kakashi, he was angry at everything. He hadn't felt that way since he saw Itachi last. Sasuke sighed and shook his head turning from Kakashi to gather himself again.

Kakashi watched Sasuke become angry and sighed softly. He was surprised to see Sasuke act that way, but what surprised him more was the look in Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke's eyes had been haunted as well as angry. He watched the emotions play across Sasuke's face like a picture book. He hadn't seen that haunted quality in Sasuke's eyes in years. He stopped watching after Sasuke turned around and the room fell silent.

A doctor walked in to the room during the silence and looked at the two men. "You are these girls' temporary guardian," he asked looking at Kakashi who gave a nod, "well Mikomi's body is beginning to break itself down for energy, so we have her on a nutrient drip. She'll probably pull through in a couple of days." The doctor referenced a couple of papers for a moment.

"Sakura is the one that concerns me," the doctor continued after the pause, looking at Kakashi again, "We have been able to isolate some sort of toxin from her, but we do not know its effects or how to identify it. It has something to do with her blood loss, of that much we're sure." The doctor looked at the two men again and sighed, "We're not sure how this is going to work out yet, Sakura is in critical condition and Mikomi is in serious condition."

Kakashi kept his eye on the doctor, there seemed to be more the doctor wanted to say. "You can tell us what you are thinking, doctor," Kakashi finally said as the doctor looked between them.

The doctor sighed and shook his head, "I'm sorry, I understand you are from a shinobi village," he said, "but endangering children as you have done is inexcusable. If you were citizens of this nation you'd be locked up right now." The doctor's knuckles became white as he gripped the two clipboards, "I have other rounds." The doctor turned quickly and left the room.

Kakashi sighed heavily as Sasuke returned to pacing. Kakashi noted Sasuke seemed a little pale now but he wasn't going to mention it. He figured mentioning it would simply put Sasuke on edge again. The last thing he needed was another fight with Sasuke.

A few minutes later Takehito entered the hospital. He had his own guard this time and seemed to be dressed in the robes of his heritage. Sasuke stopped midstride as Kakashi glanced at the prince and raised an eyebrow.

Takehito looked at Kakashi and Sasuke, "We'll be moving Sakura and Mikomi to the Imperial Hospital now," he stated as nurses brought gurneys in to the room.

Kakashi and Sasuke seemed slightly confused by the sudden change of plans but neither was going to argue with Takehito. They both felt it might be better, the Imperial Hospital was known for better equipment and staff. Mikomi and Sakura were wheeled out of the hospital quickly and transferred to a carriage waiting for them.

"Come with me," Takehito said to Kakashi and Sasuke, "we have a special doctor who will take care of them at the Imperial Hospital." Kakashi and Sasuke gave a nod and followed silently, after thanking the previous staff for taking care of the two girls.

Takehito wasted no time in getting the girls to the Imperial Hospital. He was now sitting in a chair looking at Sasuke and Kakashi quietly. He had both girls put in to the same room upon entry to the hospital. He hoped it would make it easier for the special doctor to look at them. They had been waiting for a little while before the new doctor walked in to the room.

The woman stood tall as she looked at everyone present in the room. The blonde woman had on an interesting green coat and her hair was in two tails down her back. She had a dark haired assistant behind her looking over a file.

Kakashi looked at the new doctor and his jaw nearly hit the floor. He remembered her from a long time ago, when he was a kid. She hadn't changed much as far as he could tell. She still looked relatively young considering she should be in her fifties. The doctor looked at Kakashi and sighed softly, muttering something about leaf ninja to her assistant as she walked over to Mikomi's bed.

The doctor looked at Mikomi and her eyes went wide for a moment. She shook her head and sighed lightly as she began to examine Mikomi carefully. The examination only took a couple of minutes before she looked at her assistant. "Exhaustion and malnutrition," she stated, "keep her on the nutrient drip for a couple of days and she'll be fine." Her assistant gave a nod and made a note in Mikomi's file. The women then looked at Kakashi with a frown and headed for Sakura's bed.

The doctor looked at Sakura closely with a frown painted on her face. "What's the story with this one," she said to her assistant as she turned around.

"The previous doctors noted excessive bleeding and a toxin in her blood work," the assistant replied, "they were unable to identify it though."

The doctor nodded and frowned deeply, "I see," she said as she turned back around and began to take off Sakura's blankets. She examined the wounds carefully, running a finger along the edges of the cuts. Her eyebrow rose as she felt along the edges.

"I know what we have here," she said quickly, "Shizune I need some ingredients for the anti toxin, this is that Mist anti coagulation poison."

The assistant, Shizune, looked up from the file and went pale, "I don't know if they have the ingredients we need here," Shizune said to the doctor.

The doctor turned around to face Shizune, a look of urgency on her face, "quickly Shizune," she said, "I'll take care of the wounds but we're going to need to stop the toxin before we can say she will recover!" The doctor turned around and flashed through some seals, a green chakra covered her hands as she placed them on Sakura's leg wound.

Shizune turned to Kakashi and Sasuke, "you two wait in the hall," she said as she dashed out the door. Kakashi and Sasuke did as they were told.

Shizune went running in to the room again a few minutes later while Kakashi and Sasuke sat on a bench outside of the room. The door closed behind her and Sasuke got up and began to pace again.

Sasuke kept his hands in his pockets and maintained his cool facade but Kakashi could tell the boy was worried. Kakashi sat and watched Sasuke over his little book. He knew the girls were going to be fine once he recognized who this special doctor was. He'd have to wait until after the procedure before talking to her though. He had a few things to talk to her about.

After a couple of hours the two women stepped out of the room and into the hallway. They looked at the two men waiting for them and sighed softly.

"You can go in and see your teammates," The doctor stated as she waved a hand towards the door, "They'll both recover quickly with the treatments they received." Sasuke nodded as he turned to Kakashi again.

"Go ahead," Kakashi said to Sasuke as he stood up, "I'll be in shortly." Sasuke grunted with a nod and stepped in to the room. The doctor closed the door behind him as she faced Kakashi.

"Hello, Kakashi," she said softly as she turned to lean on the wall lightly, "it's been a long time."

"Mm," Kakashi replied as he stashed his little book and faced the doctor, "it has been a while Tsunade-sama." Kakashi gave a shallow bow to her, "The Hokage has been wondering where you have been," he continued shortly afterwards, "he also wonders where Jiraiya-sama is."

Tsunade shrugged lightly, "I have no idea where Jiraiya is," she replied, "haven't seen him in a little while."

"Hn," Kakashi grunted softly as he looked at the door, "what are you doing here anyways?"

"Just paying off a little debt," Tsunade replied as she looked at Shizune, "Taking care of business, won't be in town long."

"Are you going to go back to Konoha," Kakashi asked.

"Didn't plan on it, no, the old man knows I'm fine," Tsunade replied. "Besides I have other things to do with my life," she finished after a short pause.

Kakashi sighed and gave a nod as he glanced between the two women, "So what's going on with my genin," he asked.

"Mikomi is just suffering exhaustion and malnutrition," Tsunade replied as she frowned, "I wonder how she got to that state. She doesn't seem to be eating well at all; this is more like years of substandard meals and care."

Kakashi frowned as well, "I don't think she's been eating right for a long while," he stated, "There are a few of us who are looking in to few…concerns…about her living conditions." Tsunade raised her eyebrow as she eyed Kakashi. "The council emancipated her as soon as she enrolled in the academy a few years ago," Kakashi continued, "Her money seems to be going towards bills. Everything she's told me about her living situation seems to point towards coercion and a few other things but we have no proof, yet."

Tsunade frowned again and shook her head, "The things they do to that poor girl…" Tsunade took a moment to collect her thoughts, "Her treatment is one of the reasons I decided to leave, but it seems things have gotten far worse since I left." Kakashi nodded again and sighed. "In any case," Tsunade continued, "Mikomi will be fine, here anyways; though coming here with her may have been a bad idea."

Kakashi's eyebrow rose, "what do you mean?" he asked.

"You'll find out I'm sure," Tsunade said as she looked over Sakura's file, "Sakura was poisoned with an anti coagulating toxin. Considering the wounds she received it seems it was delivered via a blade of some sort. It's a poison I've come across before, luckily, and have created an anti toxin for."

"Hmm," Kakashi sighed, "a mist poison, from what you said."

"Indeed," Tsunade said as she flipped a page over, "It binds with the platelets in the blood and prevents blood clotting, the victim bleeds out and dies in a few hours. Fortunately you gave Sakura those shots I left the medical ninja before I decided to leave the village, those saved her life." Tsunade finished and looked at Kakashi seriously, "you need to watch out for your genin better, Kakashi," she stated before handing the file back to Shizune and turning to leave.

"So it seems," Kakashi replied with a deep sigh, "anything else I should know about then?"

Tsunade turned to face him and shook her head, "just go in to see your genin," she said as she began walking down the hall, "you probably won't see me again."

Kakashi turned to face the door to the girls' room, as Tsunade vanished around a corner, and shook his head. He slid the door open quietly, so he wouldn't disturb the girls, and stepped inside. He saw Sasuke standing between the two beds looking from one girl to the other silently.

"The doctor says they'll be fine," Kakashi stated as he entered the room and closed the door behind him. Sasuke looked up at him and frowned darkly before turning back towards the girls again.

"You didn't help them when they needed it and I couldn't," Sasuke said.

Kakashi grunted lightly and looked at the two girls, "I know," he said, "We got lucky. It seemed you were all handling those Chunin rather well to me."

Sasuke snapped his eyes to Kakashi again, "Well," he asked, "how can you say we were doing 'well'? Sakura was busy facing off with a swordsman, when she isn't very good at taijutsu, I was pinned down by a water user who nullified all of my fire attacks, and Mikomi was trapped by an earth user. How could you call that 'well'?"

"I can call that 'well'," Kakashi replied, "Because you were all still moving and giving those Chunin a run for their money."

Sasuke sighed and shook his head slightly as he took his gaze off of Kakashi. He tried to reach out to both girls but he just couldn't bring himself to touch them so he stuffed his hands back in his pockets. "I need to become stronger than I am," he finally stated, "soon." Sasuke sat down on the chair between the two beds and closed his eyes, regaining his calm once more.

Kakashi smirked lightly under his mask, though it was hard for Sasuke to tell in the semi dark room. "Well," thought Kakashi, "first good idea I've heard from him since this happened." Kakashi took out his little book again and began to read it, feeling much better than he had earlier.

A few days later Team 7 found itself sitting in the Wheat Lord's chamber looking at a very dour old man. Takehito stood next to the Wheat Lord and smiled at the girls warmly. Mikomi and Sakura fidgeted under the man's scrutinizing gaze as Kakashi and Sasuke seemed wholly unperturbed by it. The girls secretly wished they could be as stoic as their two male teammates at times like this.

"This team did well to protect my son," the Wheat Lord finally said after he sent one of his men away, "I thank you four for bringing my son and the caravan home safely." The Wheat Lord lowered his head slightly to acknowledge them.

"Ahh," the girls stammered as they tried to stop fidgeting, "we were just doing our job you know."

"Yeah," Mikomi said as she looked at Sakura, "We mean we were just doing what we were hired to do, this sort of thing isn't enough to stop us." Mikomi shot the old man her patented foxy grin as Sakura nodded beside her.

"Well," the Wheat Lord continued, "that may be, but I understand that the mission rank we took out was outside of the circumstances. I have dispatched a letter to the Hokage to upgrade the mission to the proper rank with the proper payment."

"Ahh," Sakura stammered before she blushed lightly, "thanks." The girls giggled softly as the Wheat Lord looked them over, they still weren't used to praise that much.

The Wheat Lord chuckled softly as he noted their discomfort and waved a hand, "Not used to praise I see," he stated, "You did very well, I'm just glad we managed to get you to medical facilities in time." He turned slightly serious after his statement and paused for a few minutes before continuing again, "I am sincerely sorry about what happened. We were not expecting Ninja to be involved." He again bowed his head apologetically.

"Ahh," Mikomi said scratching the back of her neck sheepishly, "It's ok; we came out of it OK. I guess I learned an important lesson with this last mission." Mikomi giggled uncomfortably as she looked at Kakashi.

"Yeah," Sakura said, "I mean, we should have been better prepared, anything could happen on a mission. It's no big deal about what happened. We lived, so we can learn from it."

The Wheat Lord nodded gravely after the girls spoke, "Smart kids," he said, "Always learn from your past, indeed." The Wheat Lord then smiled, he appeared much more pleasant when he smiled, and the girls became more at ease. "As an apology and reward," the Wheat Lord continued again, "I have had rooms set aside for you all in the Palace here. I recommend that you take a small break before returning to Konoha; I assure you that the payment you will receive will more then compensate for a short break. You should both fully recover before returning home."

The girls grinned brightly as Sakura got a little sparkle in her eyes, "well," she said, "It's up to Kakashi-sensei but a good break will do us wonders." Sakura then turned to look at Kakashi, smiling brightly.

Mikomi giggled as she noticed Sakura's response, "she wants to do some shopping," Mikomi thought, "Actually, I wouldn't mind sticking around myself." Mikomi turned to face Kakashi with her puppy look, "Please Sensei," she said through a pouty lip.

Kakashi sighed lightly and shrugged, "I suppose that would be best," he replied, "don't get too carried away you two." The girls giggled as they hopped happily. The turned and faced each other, "shopping," they both exclaimed in unison.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he watched the girls, "we nearly get killed and those two want to do some shopping," he thought as he returned his gaze to the Wheat Lord. "Well," he said aloud, "if we must stay here I wouldn't mind getting a tour of the palace then. It will give me an idea of how this place is laid out."

The Wheat Lord looked at Sasuke and indicated Takehito, "My son can give you a guided tour in a moment," he said, "Right now I want to introduce the girls to my daughters. When they heard we would be having female guests they insisted on meeting them." The Wheat Lord waved his hand towards a door, "Come in you four," he said, his voice carrying through out the room. The door opened quickly as four girls came rushing in.

Mikomi and Sakura found themselves surrounded by four squealing girls. They both felt a little trapped and their instincts kicked in. They tried to distance themselves, only to find out they were back to back. They both smiled pleasantly and fidgeted as the four daughters pressed in on them.

"Kya," the oldest one said, "they're so cute, like dolls!" She giggled as her sisters quickly agreed to that statement.

Mikomi and Sakura blinked once or twice, "dolls," they asked in unison. Neither one of the two had ever been referred to like that before. This was new to them and they both felt a little stifled. They both remembered the things they did to their dolls: dress up, tea parties, that sort of thing. They also found themselves wondering what the princess meant by her statement.

"Girls," the Wheat Lord said as he clapped his hands, "at least introduce yourselves to them, they are our guests."

The girls nodded as they looked at their father then quickly returned their gazes to Mikomi and Sakura.

"I suppose I'll start then," said the oldest one as she stood up and smiled, "My name is Chiaki and I'm the oldest." She was wearing a good kimono, she appeared to be in her early twenties, and her hair was done in a princess style. "Pleased to meet you," she continued after a moment.

"I guess I'll go next," said another girl, "My Name is Shiori, I'm eighteen and I am pleased to meet you, too," she finished. This girl seemed to be more modern than her older sister, wearing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt with a band logo on it. Her hair was down and long. She grinned at the two mischievously before bowing flamboyantly.

"Me next, me next," said another girl, "Name's Mika, nice to meet you both!" She giggled softly as she clasped her hands behind her back. Her outfit seemed to be regular to the two ninja. She wore a simple skirt that went to her knees that was topped off with a white dress shirt and sweater vest. She appeared to be right out of a school life manga Mikomi had read a few months ago. Her hair was done up in a simple pony tail. She smiled warmly and pushed a pair of glasses up on her nose, "I'm fourteen," she finished.

The final girl stood behind her older sister and peered at the two ninja curiously. It took some prompting to get her to step to the side and address the two. "My name's Rikka," she said quietly, almost inaudibly, "I'm twelve." She wore a black and crimson checked skirt with a belt that hung off of her at an angle. A black long sleeved shirt covered by a crimson and torn T-shirt adorned her torso. Her hair was mostly down except for one part that was tied to the side. After her introduction she skittered behind her sister again.

"Hi," Mikomi said waving to the girls politely, "I'm Mikomi, I'm twelve and I love ramen." Mikomi giggled softly nudging Sakura with her elbow.

"Oh," Sakura said looking at the girls, "I'm Sakura, I'm twelve, too, and I love sweets." She smiled pleasantly.

"Good good," the Wheat lord said with a smile, "now that everyone's acquainted. Why don't you girls show Mikomi and Sakura around?"

"Actually father," Chiaki said, "we were considering showing them our rooms then showing them around town. I was thinking we could take them to one of the more popular clubs in town so that they can see what our town is like."

"Hmm, that sounds like a good idea," the Wheat Lord replied, "just don't push them too hard, alright."

"Of course, father," Chiaki said, "we will be careful with them. I understand they're both still a little weak from their trip here."

The Wheat Lord gave Chiaki a nod as he turned his gaze to Kakashi.

Mikomi and Sakura looked at Kakashi curiously as he scanned the princesses over.

"I don't see a problem," Kakashi said, "you two have fun." He smiled at them as he waved his hand towards the door.

"Great," the princesses exclaimed as they grabbed Mikomi and Sakura by the arms, "let's go have a girl's day."

Mikomi and Sakura didn't have a chance to resist as the princesses took their arms. They also didn't have much of a chance to resist because the princesses took off like a shot, nearly dragging the two ninja out of the room. All they managed was a "Kya!" and look of surprise as their teammates became farther away.

Sasuke watched the whole ordeal with a bored look on his face. He took note of the princesses' names and watched them, but he couldn't see any problems with the princesses. That was until he saw how fast the princesses took off with his teammates in tow. He couldn't do much though, except watch it all with a rather shocked look on his face. His eyebrow rose as far as it could go. After a moment of hearing his teammates screaming down the hallway he sighed and shook his head returning his attention to the others.

Kakashi blinked a few times then shook his head as the princesses took his genin. He didn't even think Mikomi or Sakura stood much of a chance against those four. He silently hoped that the princesses wouldn't push his genin too far, they all seemed quite energetic to him.

"Takehito," The Wheat Lord said turning to his son, "Would you show Uchiha-san around then." Takehito nodded as he indicated Sasuke should follow him and the two vanished out the side door. The Wheat Lord then turned to look at Kakashi.

"If you could stay for a few minutes," the Wheat Lord said as Kakashi's eyebrow rose again, "I have things to discuss with you."

"Of course," Kakashi replied as he made himself comfortable, he had a feeling this would be a long talk.

"Thank you," The Wheat Lord said as he settled in to his throne, "I sent a request for some information on your team when I heard you had made it to town. I received a reply yesterday." The Wheat Lord took out a small scroll and unrolled it to look it over. "According to this," he continued, "your team is an exceptional team. It says here that, during a test you had conducted, the team did very well in an infiltration mission." The Wheat Lord looked at Kakashi, as if anticipating a reply.

"Yes," Kakashi replied, "they did exceptional during that mission, aside from one unforeseen problem."

"I see," said the Wheat Lord, "that's good, because an infiltration team is what I need now. The Chunin attack on the caravan wasn't an accident. It seems there are factions in this city that wish to see me deposed. They targeted my son but your team, of course, thwarted that attempt." The Wheat Lord sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I have requested your team for another mission, to start after this short break. I sent the request this morning; it should get to the Hokage tonight. I assume he'll probably want to send a back up team, but I need a team now."

"My team," Kakashi interjected, "isn't ready for this kind of mission. It's too dangerous for them."

"I understand this," the Wheat Lord said, "Unfortunately it'll take at least a week for another team to get here and I have reason to believe this faction may attempt something before that. I have very little information to go on, but it seems the Chunin are the only ninja involved." Kakashi frowned darkly as the Wheat Lord spoke. "It's dangerous, I know, but I feel your team will be able to handle this, at least, until other ninja from your village arrive to take over the investigation."

Kakashi sighed darkly, "The infiltration they can handle," he said, "but involvement of other ninja is the concern. My team isn't ready to face other ninja." The Wheat Lord gave a nod. "It's simply too dangerous."

"I know it is," The Wheat Lord replied, "But, as I said, I have no other alternatives. I have also settled on a plan to capture this faction. It should maintain the safety of your team if other ninja _are_ involved."

Kakashi's eyebrow rose, "hmm," he grunted, "I will listen to this plan but I don't like this idea."

The Wheat Lord nodded again, "It's rather simple really," he continued at Kakashi's prompting, "The genin pose as relatives visiting from another country, Cousins. You pose as their servant. The idea is to keep everyone thinking your genin don't know what's going on and gives you the chance to investigate. I hope this will maintain your Genin's safety. I also think it will give your team a chance to snoop around without being questioned."

Kakashi frowned again and sighed thinking it through. He knew his team could do the infiltration pretty easily. His main concern was other ninja, though with him posing as a servant he could keep his genin safe from other ninja. He had to weigh the risks with his knowledge of his team. He sat for a long while considering his options, before he finally settled on one. "Fine," he said, "We'll do it, but only if my team is allowed to maintain their cover by continuing to accompany your daughters and son. I also want them fully informed of the situation."

The Wheat Lord bowed his head, "of course," he said, "I merely wanted to speak to you before I spoke to your team. I will make it an official mission and pay accordingly. I will do everything I can to ensure the success of this mission and the safety of your genin."

Kakashi grunted his acknowledgement and stood up. "I will start setting up my cover now then," he said, "I want to see the Hokage's reply as soon as it gets here and I need all the information you have as soon as possible."

"Of course," The Wheat Lord replied as he stood up as well, "I will show you your room, which is close to your genins' rooms." Kakashi nodded and followed the Wheat Lord out.

Mikomi and Sakura didn't have time to react as the princesses dragged them out of the meeting room. It took them both by surprise, they were dragged down a hall and in to a brightly lit room. They were sat on a large bed as Chiaki said it was her room.

Chiaki seemed to be a clotheshorse, considering Sakura and Mikomi couldn't count the number of outfits that were strewn about the room. It took them both a moment to catch their breath as the princesses scurried about.

"Oh I think this would look great on them," said Chiaki as she pulled a couple of outfits out of her closet.

"No way," Mika said as she grabbed something off the dresser, "this one!"

"Feh," said Shiori, "this one."

"Nuh uh," said Rikka, "This one."

Mikomi and Sakura stared at the princesses during the argument. It went on like that for a long while, each one of the princesses grabbing something and declaring that outfit was best. Finally they all turned to look at Mikomi and Sakura, each one with a couple of outfits in her hands.

Mikomi and Sakura got a rather uneasy feeling in the pits of their stomachs when they saw the, somewhat, psychotic look on the princesses' faces. The Princesses advanced on the poor Ninja as their eyes became like hot pinpoints of light. Mikomi and Sakura felt like they were being burned by the looks in the princesses' eyes.

Sasuke was somewhat pleased by the layout of the Palace. It was situated on a hill with a wall around it. The last fall back point in case of a siege. He glanced around as Takehito pointed out various places. He really didn't even register Takehito pointing to a row of rooms, stating they were his sisters' rooms.

Mikomi and Sakura scooted closer together as the princesses surrounded them, the semi psychotic eyes fixed on them. They both felt a little pinned as they grabbed each others hands and smiled nervously.

"Umm," Mikomi stuttered through a worried grin, "I think we're in trouble." Sakura managed to nod in agreement as they were pounced, "AHH," they both screamed as they felt hands on their current clothes.

Sasuke was walking along with Takehito, enjoying the quiet of the corridor. The two men were just about to head towards the servant's quarters when they heard the scream. The scream pierced the air around them and made them both cringe in fear. They looked around to pinpoint the sound when Sasuke's mind registered a familiarity with the screams. He blinked as he searched for the reason why the voices seemed familiar.

Kakashi looked down the hall when he heard screams echo along the hallway, the Wheat Lord paused to turn around and look. "What is that," Kakashi wondered as he looked at the Wheat Lord, "sounds like Mikomi and Sakura."

The Wheat Lord chuckled lightly and shook his head, "That would be my daughters seeing what outfits look best on those two," he stated as he shrugged. "They do that to a lot of female guests," he continued, "they hear of a new female guest and plan which room to take them to. Once they figure out which room, they drag all of their outfits to that room. So they only have to go to one room before they 'help' the guest try on outfits."

"Ahh," Kakashi replied shaking his head too, "well, as long as those two are alright." Kakashi shrugged as he turned back down the hall again, "shall we continue," he asked.

"Ahh," the Wheat Lord replied, "of course." The Wheat Lord turned and started walking down the hall again.

Sasuke registered why the screams sounded familiar and went pale again. He was seriously getting tired of this nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach every time it had anything to do with the safety of Sakura and Mikomi. He'd deal with it later though. He cussed darkly and ran towards the room the screams came from.

Takehito frowned lightly as he heard the screams. He slowly scanned the hall before something occurred to him. Those screams were coming from Chiaki's room. Then a thought hit him right after Sasuke had taken off at a dead run, "Uh oh," he thought. "Sasuke," he shouted as he ran after Sasuke, "Wait!"

Sasuke found the door he had heard the screams from in a matter of moments. He vaguely recalled hearing Takehito yell something after him but he wasn't going to waste time. He put his hand on the door and slammed it open, "Mikomi, Sakura," he said, "are you two ok?" Sasuke didn't register everything at first then time seemed to freeze. Sasuke found himself looking in to a room full of outfits; the princesses were standing around Sakura and Mikomi with some clothes in their hands. He saw Mikomi and Sakura too; this was the cause of the sudden time freeze. There Sakura and Mikomi were, standing in the middle of a circle of princesses in nothing more than their underwear.

Mikomi and Sakura heard the door slam open and turned to see who it was. Unfortunately they had forgotten about their current state of undress. When they figured out who it was they both felt their faces start to burn hot and time froze in that instant.

Takehito was hoping to stop Sasuke but that proved a futile effort. He decided it would simply be best to stop at the edge of the door so he couldn't see in and pull Sasuke out of the line of fire should anything be hurled at him when the door opened.

Sasuke got a good look at his teammate as everything froze. It was rather shocking to him and his mind didn't quite register what was going on at first. Finally everything caught up to him.

Mikomi and Sakura couldn't believe that Sasuke had seen them this way. They both hoped it was a hallucination but that proved a fruitless hope. The feeling of embarrassment rose in them both as time began to move again. "IYAAA," they both screamed as they ducked down in an attempt to cover as much as they could with their legs and arms, their eyes squeezed tightly shut.

Sasuke noticed Sakura and Mikomi duck which switched his mind back on. He blinks once, "ack!" he exclaimed as he slammed the door closed again. He shifted so his back was to the door and leaned against it. He panted as he felt warmth on his cheeks. It felt like his face was on fire as his eyes refused to do anything but mimic saucer plates. Takehito reached over and pulled him away from the door as he tried to get his bearings.

"I think it would be wise to move along," Takehito said as he half dragged Sasuke down the hall, "the sooner we get away from there the better off we are."

Sasuke nodded numbly as his mind processed everything that just happened. After a while he began to think clearly again. He figured it'd probably be a bad thing to be seen by any of the girls for a little while. He couldn't quite shake the image, though. What he saw stuck with him for the rest of the day.

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**A/N:** Well I hope you liked this chapter! I had fun writing it, even if I did have a couple of blocks on what to write, hehe.

I decided to use "Iya" for the girls at the end, simply because I think it adds more humor to the situation.

Sorry for the delay on this chapter, Finals week. I was able to pull a 3 point for school, there was a slight misunderstanding with one of the tests and I missed it. I managed a C in that class none the less, hehe. The tests were 75% of the grade and the Lab was 25% of the grade. With missing one test and how much it's weighed I say a C is damn good don't you?

I had to move back in with my mother for the winter break but I'm hoping to get back to school in January and get myself an actual place, now that I have more contacts for housing.

My mother needs my help for a lot of things so I can't guarantee when new chapters will get posted but know that I intend to finish this story.

Anyways that's the chapter; so please review, review, review!


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